Choosing the right care can save you time, reduce your costs and help you get the right care faster.
When someone in your family suddenly feels ill or gets injured, your instinct may be to find help fast. But in that moment, it is not always easy to know where to start. Should you head to the emergency department? Try an urgent care clinic? Call your primary care provider or connect virtually through telehealth?
Each option serves a different purpose—and choosing the right one can save you time, reduce your costs, and help you get the right care faster. Choosing the right location can also help preserve emergency department resources for patients with serious or life-threatening conditions.
Primary care: Your best starting point for most issues
Your primary care provider knows your history, medications, and long-term health goals better than anyone. They are often the best place to begin for non-urgent concerns or symptoms that develop gradually. Building an ongoing relationship with your provider helps ensure your care is personalized and comprehensive.
Many Providence Primary Care clinics hold same day or next day appointments for more immediate needs. Providence Montana has many options for you to find your primary care health care team.
In Missoula:
Providence Primary Care and Integrative Wellness on Reserve Street
Providence Primary Care – Garden City on Spruce Street next to the hospital
Providence Primary Care -- Grant Creek on Reserve Street
Providence Primary Care – Southgate near Southgate Mall
Providence Broadway Internal Medicine on Broadway
In Florence:
Providence Primary Care – Florence on Old Highway 93
In Stevensville:
Providence Primary Care – Stevensville on Main Street
In Lake County:
Providence St. Joseph Medical Clinic – Polson
Providence St. Joseph Medical Clinic – Ronan
When it’s uncomfortable, but not dangerous
When you or your loved one isn’t feeling great, but it’s not an emergency, you can choose from a few options. Urgent Care and ExpressCare clinics can treat many common issues more efficiently. These options are often quicker and more cost effective for patients.
Urgent care is a great choice when you need prompt attention, but the situation is not life threatening. These are issues that cannot wait for an appointment but are not emergencies. Urgent care clinics offer extended hours, including evenings and weekends, and do not require appointments. Most urgent care clinics have onsite labs, medications, and imaging services.
Providence Urgent Care – Grant Creek and the new Providence Urgent Care – Southgate are two excellent options for Missoula and the surrounding community.
If an urgent care provider determines that additional testing or emergency-level evaluation is needed, they will guide you to the right place. If it’s the middle of the night and urgent care clinics are closed, the emergency department may be your only available option. When in doubt, it’s always better to err on the side of caution and seek help.
ExpressCare: For minor medical needs when a primary care provider is unavailable
Providence ExpressCare – Brooks and Reserve is designed for minor, everyday illnesses at quick, same-day appointments, as well as walk-in access when available, staffed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants/associates. ExpressCare focuses on convenient access to care. ExpressCare offers same-day appointments, and walk-ins when available, 7 days a week.
ExpressCare Virtual: Fast care without leaving home
Telehealth has become one of the most convenient ways to get timely care—especially for people who have transportation challenges, prefer to avoid exposure to seasonal viruses, or live in rural areas. Providers through Providence ExpressCare Virtual can evaluate many concerns through a secure video visit, including concerns such as gastrointestinal issues, allergies or simple skin conditions. If you need in-person testing or imaging, your provider will direct you to the appropriate location.
Emergency care: For life-threatening situations
Some symptoms require immediate medical attention. In those moments, calling 911 or going straight to the emergency department is the safest option. Emergency departments specialize in treating conditions that threaten life or could lead to permanent harm--conditions where minutes matter.
Emergency departments are located at Providence St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula and Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Polson.
Emergency departments prioritize patients based on medical need, not arrival time, so patients with life-threatening conditions are evaluated immediately. If you are unsure whether symptoms are serious, it is always appropriate to seek emergency care. Emergency departments are open 24 hours a day/7 days a week and prepared to evaluate all patients.
Emergency care is designed for health conditions such as chest pain or difficulty breathing, symptoms of stroke (slurred speech, sudden numbness, tingling, weakness or vision change), sudden, severe abdominal pain or pervasive thoughts of wanting to hurt yourself or others.
Care close to home
No matter where you begin, our Providence teams collaborate to make sure you get the right level of care—without unnecessary delays or added stress.
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