Please send items to dscherban@gazettenet.com.
To provide treatment for non-life threatening ailments, Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton has opened a new urgent care clinic this month.
It is located in the main corridor, just inside the main entrance, and offers care during weekend and evening hours, when many primary care doctors’ offices are closed, said Julia Sorensen, the chief marketing communications officer.
Doctors are available to treat illnesses and injuries including strains and sprains, urinary tract infections, minor fractures, minor cuts and lacerations, sutures and suture removal, and minor burns.
Since life-threatening emergencies always take priority in the emergency department, patients with more minor problems are encouraged to go to urgent care.
“With urgent care, wait times are typically shorter and insurance copays are typically lower than emergency room care,” said Joanne Marqusee, president and chief executive officer at Cooley Dickinson.
Since the facility is connected to the hospital, the doctors have access to resources like the radiology department and the hospital laboratories.
They also have the ability to transfer patients to the emergency room if needed, said Sorensen.
Urgent care treats people ages 6 years old and up. No appointment is needed. Walk-in hours are Monday through Friday, 2 to 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Most major insurance is accepted. Anyone who elects to go to urgent care at Cooley Dickinson Hospital should check with their insurance carrier to determine whether a referral or preauthorization is required.
Learn more at cooley-dickinson.org/urgentcare or call 582-2330.
— Lisa Spear
The Amherst Survival Center will host a free community conversation on fighting hunger on Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
The discussion will feature Monte Belmonte, host for WRSI The River (93.9 FM) and an activist for ending hunger; U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, who has long taken an active interest in food issues and author Leanne Brown, who wrote the cookbook “Good and Cheap: Eating Well on $4/day.”
The evening is co-sponsored by the University of Massachusetts School of Public Policy and the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. It will address ways individuals can improve access to healthy food.
In 2015, according to Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks, 42.2 million Americans did not have enough food to maintain good health. That includes 13.1 million children.
The Amherst Survival Center is located at 138 Sunderland Road in North Amherst, on the Route 33 PVTA bus route. More information can be found on its website: www.amherstsurvival.org.
The public is invited to participate in a walk Thursday from Northampton’s City Hall to Cooley Dickinson Hospital to raise awareness of breast cancer screening/early detection.
Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz and Cooley Dickinson Health Care President and CEO Joanne Marqusee will welcome participants on the steps of City Hall 5:15 p.m. to kick off the 1.4-mile walk during which participants will have an opportunity to tie pink ribbons along the way to raise awareness.
Following the walk, a reception will be held in the hospital’s main entrance lobby. Marqusee will welcome guests and several physicians will speak. Refreshments will be served and information about mammography services will be available.
The City of Northampton will provide transportation back to City Hall between 6:30 and 7 p.m.