Laura Starkey and Shannon Fitzgerald
| Guest column
In a recent column published in the Kitsap Sun, pediatrician Niran Al-Agba raised concerns about the quality of care provided by urgent care centers, emphasizing the involvement of “non-physician” providers. In response to Dr. Al-Agba’s opinion, we’d like to offer a different perspective.
Kitsap County severely lacks access to healthcare. In July 2023, the Kitsap Public Health Board recognized that our county has insufficient access to healthcare, declaring a public health crisis. It may be ideal to think that our primary care clinics can manage all of the acute and chronic non-emergent health conditions of our population, but unfortunately, they cannot. Our primary care clinics are simply overwhelmed. Many primary care offices are unable to fit in their patients for walk-in appointments, requiring them to wait several days, or even weeks, for conditions that need urgent, but not emergent, attention.
As a result of these capacity constraints, primary care clinics in our area routinely refer patients to urgent care centers. Urgent cares help bridge this gap in care by providing healthcare for patients who have difficulty getting in to see their primary care provider, and additionally provide the benefit of reducing unnecessary emergency department visits.
Urgent care centers often employ Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) such as Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners to help provide care, in addition to Physicians. APPs are healthcare professionals who undergo rigorous training and education. They are qualified to perform physical assessments, order diagnostic tests, interpret results, and prescribe medications and treatments as needed for acute and chronic health conditions.
APPs are integral members of the healthcare team, used throughout the nation as well as here in Kitsap County, to deliver quality care to patients in primary care, urgent care, emergency, and specialty care settings. The employment of APPs significantly expands access to healthcare services. This is invaluable for Kitsap county, which falls below state and national averages for access to primary care, urgent care, and emergency care.
Last year the Kitsap Public Health Board partnered with the research team from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security to evaluate our local healthcare system. The researchers offered ideas and solutions to help improve high quality healthcare access to our community members. They recommended we prioritize the recruitment of healthcare providers, including APPs, which utilize APPs to their full scope of practice.
Instead of criticizing members of our medical community, we should promote the tools we have that help bring quality care to our community members. Urgent care centers and APPs are two essential components of our healthcare system. Rather than undermining the quality of care, they contribute to improving access and outcomes for patients. As we continue to navigate our local healthcare challenges, collaboration and recognition of the value of all healthcare professionals is key to strengthening our healthcare system for the benefit of all.
Laura Starkey, PA-C, and Shannon Fitzgerald, ARNP, both live on Bainbridge Island.
