New urgent-care center specializes in bone and joint issues on the Upper East Side

One of the newest Manhattan healthcare centers to open this year is a bona fide benefit for local residents.

A new urgent care center on the Upper East Side opened in January that treats strictly bone and joint issues, allowing the community to skip the hospital ER if they need immediate help for their injuries.

New York Bone & Joint Specialists opened the first storefront orthopedic and sports medicine urgent care center in Manhattan at 1198 Third Ave. on Jan. 1. The center, which is called the Orthopedic Urgent & Sports Medicine Walk-In, allows New Yorkers ages 11 and older to see a bone and joint specialist without an appointment.

The center accepts almost any insurance and offers specialized treatment for orthopedic-related conditions or injuries.

One of the biggest draws of the 5,000-square-foot facility is that New Yorkers can now avoid long waits and other challenges that come with visiting an ER after a fall or accident. They can also seek treatment, including physical therapy, for chronic conditions like back pain without an appointment.

Leon Popovitz, MD, co-founder of New York Bone & Joint Specialists, which has other locations throughout the borough available by appointment only, opened the walk-in center to streamline the process many patients endure while seeking orthopedic treatment.

“We really want to change how people access orthopedic care,” Popovitz said. “It’s very stressful and complicated to find the right orthopedic specialist, doctor or physical therapy. It’s a complex web of looking for referrals, getting the appointment, second opinions, insurance matches. It’s becoming more and more difficult and stressful for patients to navigate. We want to erase all that and keep it as simple as possible for people.”

Falls: The leading cause of injury-related ER visits

Statistics show NYC is a fitting place for a walk-in orthopedic urgent-care center. Unintentional falls are the leading cause of injury-related ER visits, according to NYC date from 2019.

Older people, too, are prone to falls. In fact, the New York State Department of Health calls osteoporosis a public health threat for an estimated 44 million Americans. The disease causes bones to become weak, leading to falls resulting in injury for many patients.

Popovitz explained that the medical team on site at the new center are orthopedic specialists. The medical technology outfitting the center is designed to treat an array of orthopedic ailments.

“We’re very capable of making a detailed evaluation very promptly because we have orthopedic x-ray and ultrasound,” Popovitz explained. “Because we have orthopedic-specialized x-ray, we’re able to do the various standing or weight-bearing angled x-rays that maybe some other facilities that are not specialized can’t do.”

Although the center is a walk-in place, patients can still request to see a specific doctor for follow-up care.

“You can have the continuity of care that you’re looking for,” the doctor said.

New Yorkers can seek care from the center for a variety of orthopedic injuries and conditions, including rotator cuff tear, ACL tear, knee replacement, herniated discs, sciatic, pinched nerve, neck or cervical pain, sprained ankle, back pain, foot issues and dies.

The center does not do surgery, but doctors will recommend surgery outside the facility if it is deemed necessary.

For more information, visit nyboneandjoint.com.