Urgent Care
Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I call my child's doctor?

Whenever your child has an urgent medical problem, you should try to call your child's primary care physician first. Staff at our urgent care centers cannot answer medical questions or advise you about your child's health over the phone. You and your child's doctor know your child best and together can decide on the most appropriate care for your child.

If you do not have a primary care physician, you can call the Pediatrician Referral Service at 513-636-4724 for help finding a physician in your area.

Our doctors and nurses are trained in pediatrics and are the same experts who treat patients at the Emergency Department at our main hospital.
Most insurance companies do cover urgent care visits, but we recommend you consult your insurance company for more information. Some companies ask that you get a referral from your physician before the visit. And many insurance companies require co-pays, which should be listed on your insurance card. If you have billing questions, contact Billing Customer Service.

Wait times for all of our urgent care centers are listed in the upper-right corner of this page (or at the bottom of the page on mobile). Wait times vary by location, day and time of day.

You also have the option of seeing a pediatric expert through virtual urgent care from your smartphone or computer with CincyKids Health Connect.

Check in with your pediatrician to help determine how urgently your child needs care. We are able to treat flu-like symptoms at our urgent care centers, though wait times may be long during respiratory illness season.

These symptoms can also be addressed via a virtual urgent care video visit, accessible from your smartphone or computer with CincyKids Health Connect. Virtual urgent care is available 24/7 from home.

We do not complete routine school, camp or athletic physicals at our urgent care centers. Contact your child's primary care physician to make an appointment.

If your child's urgent care physician orders lab or radiology tests, our pediatric technicians will perform the tests while you wait. Pediatric radiologists from Cincinnati Children's will review all X-rays before you leave. Your child's urgent care physician will give you the results before you leave, and the results will be given to your child's primary care physician.

If your child's primary care doctor has written an order or a prescription for an X-ray or lab work, and you don't need to see an urgent care physician, you can go to one of our neighborhood locations to get these tests completed.

If your child's injury is serious and our physician thinks your child needs to see a specialist right away, such as an orthopaedic or plastic surgeon, you will be sent to the Emergency Department at our main hospital.
We are able to stitch most cuts at our urgent care centers. Occasionally a plastic surgeon is needed, and you and the urgent care physician can make that decision. 

We do not have orthopaedists available during urgent care hours, but we can diagnose and splint most fractures. Simple fractures usually are splinted until the swelling goes down. When the swelling decreases, your child will need to see one of our orthopaedic surgeons for a cast. Our staff will give you the number to our Call Center, 513-636-3200, so you can schedule a follow-up appointment with one of our orthopaedic surgeons.

If your child's break is serious and the urgent care physician thinks your child needs to see an orthopaedist right away, you will be sent to the Emergency Department at our main hospital.

We do not have a dentist available during urgent care hours. If your child has tooth pain or a tooth injury, you will need to go to the Emergency Department at our main hospital where a pediatric dentist is available.
For a list of the pharmacies in your area and their hours, ask the nurse before you leave the urgent care center.

Our urgent care centers are not 24-hour facilities. If you are unable to get to an urgent care center before we close, please take your child to the Emergency Department at either Cincinnati Children's Main Campus or Cincinnati Children's Liberty Campus.

The Emergency Department can be reached any time by calling 513-636-4293.

Consider using virtual urgent care from your smartphone or computer with CincyKids Health Connect.

In addition to our urgent care locations, you can also have the option to use virtual urgent care from our CincyKids Health Connect app for minor injuries and illnesses, which allows you to see a pediatric expert 24/7 from your smartphone or computer.

Mental Health Emergency

If your child is experiencing a mental health emergency, please start by calling our Psychiatric Intake Response Center at 513-636-4124. If you are calling after- hours or can't wait for a call-back, dial 988 to talk to an expert at the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Masking status – either optional or required – is based on the current state and spread of respiratory illness in our community. As conditions change, so may our masking policy for that time. This information will be updated here and at our location entrances any time there is a change. You are always welcome to wear a mask if you prefer, and they are available at all of our entrances. We also ask that patients put on a mask if they have symptoms of a respiratory illness or are recovering from a COVID infection.
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