Santa Monicans now have another treatment option for cuts, coughs, sprains and other injuries and ailments. Exer Urgent Care, a Southern California-based urgent care company, celebrated the opening of a new location yesterday at the corner of Wilshire Blvd and 24th Street.
Exer Urgent Care was founded in 2013 to offer an alternative to hospital emergency rooms by providing treatment for patients with non-life threatening medical issues. Exer provides many of the same services as an ER including diagnostics, x-rays, medications, COVID testing and treatment of lacerations, fractures, allergic reactions and rashes among others.
“We’re staffed with ER doctors and are able to see about 80% of the patients that are seen in the ER,” said Exer CEO Rob Mahan.
He noted that those with life-threatening cases should go to the ER but said that Exer’s model serves to relieve some of the strain put on hospitals while also providing patients with a faster, more convenient and less expensive option for less acute issues.
“Our goal is to really provide the Santa Monica community with an alternative to long lines and busy ERs” said Exer Chief Medical Officer Dr. Cory Spurlock “While hospitals and ERs are very, very important, we want to offer patients a clean, high-tech, comforting alternative to maybe having to wait in the emergency room or other urgent cares.”
The Santa Monica location is the latest to join Exer’s network of 28 locations across Southern California. Dr. Spurlock is in charge of overseeing clinical operations at all of these locations and rotates between them, but said there will be a core team of staff in Santa Monica.
“Typically, at each facility, we really try to have a medical director who’s there full time as well as one or two other full-time doctors who are at that location,” he said. “We do have some docs who will rotate multiple facilities but we really like to try to get them locked into one facility that way they get to know the community.”
Mahan said that one way Exer will be working to get integrated and serve the community is by providing free sports physicals to high-school students.
“We really believe in supporting our local communities and are also excited about the prospect of helping our youth stay active, busy and involved,” he said.
Exer accepts multiple types of insurance including major PPO and many HMO plans as well as Medicare. They do not accept Medi-Cal. Out of pocket prices are available on the Company’s website and range from $170 for minor services such as rash or UTI treatment, to $285 or above for more serious treatment including fractures and head injuries.
The new facility is open 7 days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. More information is available on the company’s website: https://exerurgentcare.com.
grace@smdp.com
