By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — Twist your ankle while jogging in Central Park, but don't want to waste hours waiting for an X-ray in the emergency room?
Doctors at the recently opened Urgent Care Manhattan say they've got the answer to your quick-service medical needs.
The urgent care center, at 199 Amsterdam Avenue at West 69th Street, treats walk-in patients who need speedy medical attention for non-life-threatening maladies.
The facility provides a quick-service alternative for people who don't want to go to an emergency room, can't get a timely appointment to see their regular doctor or don't have a primary care physician at all, or are visiting from out-of-town.
The clinic, which has six exam rooms, can stitch up the finger you sliced while cutting a bagel, give you a quick X-ray to find out if that ankle you twisted is sprained or broken, and administer IV fluids if you're suffering from a bad stomach flu.
Urgent Care Manhattan serves both insured and uninsured patients.
The cost for a basic visit is $150; patients are typically in and out in 30 minutes, said Mark Melrose, a board-certified emergency physician who started Urgent Care Manhattan with physician Neal Shipley and registered nurse Patricia Coleman. The three were once co-workers at Beth Israel Medical Center.
They're so confident of their speedy service that they didn't build a waiting room at Urgent Care Manhattan. Instead they call the chairs and couch in the lobby "the lounge."
"We like to say it's easier to come see us than it is to get a hair cut," said Melrose. "In Manhattan, people are busy. They have big work calendars and big social calendars and a zillion obligations. If you want your access to healthcare to be easy, urgent care is a great option."
