People in need of assistance for minor health problems will now have another facility to go to where they will pay less money for services and be seen faster. Bermuda Healthcare Services is jump-starting a pilot project under the name of the Urgent Healthcare Clinic aimed at taking care of less severe injuries or health problems. This effort will hopefully help to lessen the amount of people who fill the emergency room at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital looking for assistance. Dr. Ewart Brown of the Bermuda Healthcare Services along with Dr. Sonia Meade were instrumental in organising this project which will hopefully attract the public. Dr. Brown said in Bermuda, as is often the case in many other places, the emergency room tends to be over-utilised causing those that are more severely injured to sometimes take a back seat. "People whose problems do not tend to be emergencies go to the emergency room and use it as their doctor's office which is a misuse of an emergency facility and true emergencies sometimes have to wait.'' He added: "For years, we have thought about doing this and even now it is a pilot project which we will do through April. There are still some particulars that need to be ironed out with insurance companies but I am confident that they will capitalise on an opportunity to reduce healthcare costs.'' Dr. Brown said the theory behind the Urgent Healthcare Clinic is the fact that it's a cost-effective idea. "Visits to the emergency room are expensive simply because it's a high overhead operation. We believe that our visit will be half of the cost of a visit to the emergency room. Their visits range $134 to $318 which is not inclusive of X-ray's, injecting, ultrasounds etc. "Our visits will be a $75 visit and our testing is less expensive. It is an opportunity for the healthcare system to provide urgent care at a lower cost than emergency care.'' Dr. Brown said there is a definite distinction between the types of care the new service will manage and what should be treated at the hospital. "If someone has a stab wound to the chest, that should be treated in the emergency room. Urgent Healthcare patients would be the person with chest pains, the housewife who may have cut her finger while cooking, the person with back pains, sprains and small injuries -- the basic non-emergency type. "The person who has broken their leg in an accident should not come but the person who got a bad sprain at the gym should. We are adapt to deal with something like that.'' He added: "Dr. Meade and I have had experience outside Bermuda for this kind of service. We are excited about it because it is different. It's a first for Bermuda and it's a different tempo from regular office medicine.'' Dr. Brown also said Bermuda Healthcare Services was originally designed to provide comprehensive services and "this is one attempt to be more comprehensive. "Patients will be seen faster, and we think we will be supported by patients and their doctors. A number of physicians have already indicated that they will cooperate with this effort.'' The new service will open on January 27 and run through April.

The clinic will be open Tuesdays and Thursdays 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. X-rays are also available.

Starting on February 2 Dr. Meade will be accepting new patients age 12 and older and ob-gyn patients formerly in the care of Dr. George Thomas. For more information 238-2273.