We’ve all been there—too sick to wait for an appointment with our usual doctor but not sick enough to warrant a trip to the hospital emergency center. That’s when visiting a Harris Health urgent care center becomes the best option.
To increase the community’s access to high-quality and convenient care, Harris Health is transitioning its same-day clinics to urgent care facilities beginning with the Urgent Care at Outpatient Center on the Harris Health Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital campus. Urgent Care at Outpatient Center offers extended hours and care options with shorter wait times compared to hospitals emergency centers, and all available with no appointment necessary. The center accepts major health insurance plans.
“Harris Health is committed to providing more services to patients in a way that is most accessible, and sometimes urgent care is the best method,” says Joaquin Villegas, MD, medical director, Urgent Care at Outpatient Center, formerly the Margo Hilliard Alford Same Day Clinic.
Harris Health Opens Urgent Care, Increasing Medical Options for Harris County
By StoryStudio on February 10, 2025
SPONSORED BY Harris Health
Harris Health same-day clinics have served the Harris County residents since 2014. These clinics see 58,000 patients annually, a number expected to increase with the expansion of services in urgent care centers. The Urgent Care at Outpatient Center offers all the same services of a same-day clinic—medication refills, vaccinations, colds and flu, pregnancy testing—but will expand to include minor surgical procedures and intravenous (IV) hydration and medications. The center also offers onsite radiology, laboratory and pharmacy services.
The illnesses and minor injuries treated at the urgent care center include headaches, migraines, sore throats, urinary tract infections, nausea, minor cuts and abrasions, blisters, sprains and suture removal.
Joaquin Villegas, MD, medical director, Urgent Care at Outpatient Center
"Harris Health is committed to providing more services to patients in a way that is most accessible, and sometimes urgent care is the best method."
The advantages of urgent care for patients are significant, says Sheterra Jenkins, senior operations manager, Urgent Care at Outpatient Center. “The urgent care center operates as a bridge between appointment-based primary care and walk-in emergency care,” says Jenkins, a 25-year Harris Health employee. “The positive impact on patients is the drastic reduction in wait time. We're providing convenient and quick care in a 20-minute appointment with wait times typically around an hour and no longer than two. Additionally, no appointment is necessary.”
At the urgent care center, patients can walk in and out in a reasonable amount of time, be connected back to a primary care physician (PCP), referred to specialty services and even get help scheduling an appointment, which is not something traditionally done in a hospital emergency center. While the center does not see newborns, children
“I’m excited about the future of our urgent care centers,” Small says. With one same-day clinic already transitioned to urgent care, the plan is to transition the other three same-day clinics in the coming years.
For Jenkins, the transition from same-day clinics to urgent care represents a full-circle moment. “I was born at Jefferson Davis Hospital,” she recalls. “It was one of the first hospitals owned and operated by Harris Health. And so, for me, being a product of this community, having received services from Harris Health in the past, and now being a leader in the organization is a huge achievement and an opportunity to give back.”
Villegas feels similarly. Born in Mexico and eventually moving to Texas, he’s proud to offer care in a manner that reflects Houston’s identity as an international melting pot. “I'm from Mexico, I speak Spanish, so I've always been very cognizant about improving health equity and healthcare access to all residents of Harris County.”
“Being able to offer urgent care that can address patients’ acute needs in a timely fashion will go a long way to making sure that people feel safe and secure in our community” Villegas reaffirms.
Urgent Care at Outpatient Center is located at 5550 Kelley St., Houston, Texas 77026, First Floor, Medicine Clinic 1.
"Knowing who you can successfully treat and who still needs to receive emergency care has required continued education and experience that we’re all better for completing."
“That’s the beauty of being connected to a comprehensive health system,” says Jennifer Small, AuD, executive vice president and administrator, Ambulatory Care Services. A patient can come to urgent care for complications related to diabetes and many other conditions. Our services there can serve as a bridge to ultimately provide patients with access to an array of other healthcare available through Harris Health to better manage chronic conditions from specialist appointments, food farmacy prescriptions and even dialysis treatment. “Ambulatory care provides comprehensive services for our community.”
Some patients may wonder if the level of care they’ve come to depend on will change with the transition to urgent care.
Sheterra Jenkins, senior operations manager, Urgent Care at Outpatient Center
as young as 18 months are seen. No matter if you have insurance or if it’s your first time, the urgent care center can connect patients with social services and a wide-range of medical care services available across Harris Health.
Jennifer Small, AuD, executive vice president and administrator, Ambulatory Care Services
Villegas, also an assistant professor, Family Medicine, UTHealth, agrees. “The transition has actually made myself and my team better providers,” he adds. “Knowing who you can successfully treat and who still needs to receive emergency care has required continued education and experience that we’re all better for completing.”
“Being able to offer urgent care that can address patients’ acute needs in a timely fashion will go a long way to making sure that people feel safe and secure in our community” Villegas reaffirms.
Urgent Care at Outpatient Center is located at 5550 Kelley St., Houston, Texas 77026, First Floor, Medicine Clinic 1.
Joaquin Villegas, MD, medical director, Urgent Care at Outpatient Center
Small assures this is not the case. “The level of care our patients receive is second to none,” she explains, noting how Harris Health’s collaboration with medical partners; McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Houston Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine ensures the highest level of clinician care available. “Many of the same clinicians and highly-trained specialists that work within other institutions in the Texas Medical Center are the same medical providers that our patients will see at Harris Health.”
Thanks to the $2.5 billion bond package passed by voters in 2023, improving care and increasing access will continue at Harris Health. For now, the community is encouraged to take advantage of the new Urgent Care at Outpatient Center for its medical needs.
Small assures this is not the case. “The level of care our patients receive is second to none,” she explains, noting how Harris Health’s collaboration with medical partners; McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Houston Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine ensures the highest level of clinician care available. “Many of the same clinicians and highly-trained specialists that work within other institutions in the Texas Medical Center are the same medical providers that our patients will see at Harris Health.”
Villegas, also an assistant professor, Family Medicine, UTHealth, agrees. “The transition has actually made myself and my team better providers,” he adds. “Knowing who you can successfully treat and who still needs to receive emergency care has required continued education and experience that we’re all better for completing.”
“I’m excited about the future of our urgent care centers,” Small says. With one same-day clinic already transitioned to urgent care, the plan is to transition the other three same-day clinics in the coming years.
For Jenkins, the transition from same-day clinics to urgent care represents a full-circle moment. “I was born at Jefferson Davis Hospital,” she recalls. “It was one of the first hospitals owned and operated by Harris Health. And so, for me, being a product of this community, having received services from Harris Health in the past, and now being a leader in the organization is a huge achievement and an opportunity to give back.”
Villegas feels similarly. Born in Mexico and eventually moving to Texas, he’s proud to offer care in a manner that reflects Houston’s identity as an international melting pot. “I'm from Mexico, I speak Spanish, so I've always been very cognizant about improving health equity and healthcare access to all residents of Harris County.”
Thanks to the $2.5 billion bond package passed by voters in 2023, improving care and increasing access will continue at Harris Health. For now, the community is encouraged to take advantage of the new Urgent Care at Outpatient Center for its medical needs.
Harris Health Opens Urgent Care, Increasing Medical Options for Harris County