We offer same day urgent care visits for established patients of Post Road Pediatrics, Monday through Friday (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Saturday (8:30 a.m. to noon) by appointment made through our triage nurse.
As always, significant, uncontrollable pain or obvious deformity should prompt an ER visit. For all other injuries, just call our on-call provider if you're not sure and need urgent advice, or call the following morning for an appointment. Because of our relationship with Boston Children's, we are also able to coordinate follow-up with them, if necessary.
What to do after hours
If you have a sick child or urgent need after hours, call us.
We may be able to help you prevent an unnecessary (lengthy and sometimes expensive) visit to the emergency room with guidance over the phone, or see you in our office at a time that works for you. We want to be sure your child receives the best care, and we believe we provide that here, in your medical home!
One of our providers is on call after hours and on weekends and can be reached at our main number (978-443-6005) by following the prompts on our phone menu. We also have an overnight triage nurse available for phone advice at our main number (in addition to a physician on call for urgent consultation). If you are having trouble reaching the provider on call, please dial our answering service directly at 508-848-0697.
We ask that our families call us for advice prior to visiting an urgent care clinic or the emergency room (unless you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency).
Please be aware that certain urgent care clinics (Ready Med is an example) require a referral from our office. If they are not able to obtain this at the time of your visit, they will refuse to see you. Before visiting an urgent care clinic, please call us so that we may help you access the most appropriate care for your child.
Possible broken bone?
Over time, we have observed that many families have made possibly preventable ER and urgent care visits for injuries. We understand that acute injuries are stressful, but we also know that 1) urgent care and ER visits usually result in splinting and x-rays only, with referral to orthopedics, where 2) kids with simple sprains and fractures that don't need surgery merely receive bracing and follow-up appointments.
Because of these observations, we joined a workgroup with Boston Children's Hospital to develop a plan for safe and appropriate treatment of children with many different significant sprains or even simple fractures. With this partnership, along with a fantastic brace and crutch supplier (Surgicare), we're proud to offer more advanced injury care for your child.