By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Mosaic Life Care is offering an alternative to the Emergency Room for area residents who break a bone, dislocate a shoulder, experience pain in their joints, or suffer similar injuries.
Dr. John Weitlich, an orthopedic traumatologist, says the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Office at 3107 Frederick Avenue is available for walk-ins.
“We want to let everybody know for any musculoskeletal injury such as hip pain, back pain, knee pain; if you have an ankle sprain or a fracture, those are all types of injuries that we treat here and we can actually see you on the same day without an appointment,” Weitlich tells reporters during a news briefing. “We have a walk-in clinic that you can come in to from 7am until 4pm.”
Mosaic has been experiencing a high volume of patients in its ER as well as in its Urgent Care facility. The Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Office can take some of those patients who normally would go to the ER.
“Any way we can decrease that burden, keep people out of the Emergency Department,” Weitlich says. “There are sick people there with either COVID or non-COVID illnesses and if we can keep people out of the waiting rooms and out of positions like that and enable them to come here and decrease that burden, I think it’s a great help to our entire community, but also it’s great for our patients and our community to have access to that care in a quick and timely fashion.”
Weitlich says for those suffering certain injuries, especially fractures or sprains, the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Office might offer a better option.
“Oftentimes they’re treated temporarily in the Emergency Room and sent home,” Weitlich says. “We have the capability to place splints and stabilize fractures and we can also help with pain control, pain medicine, and pain management. So, we have all the capabilities and access for that here.”
The office is located at 3107 Frederick Avenue and is open to walk-in patients from 7am until 4pm. Residents can also call ahead of time to schedule an appointment. No referral is necessary.