Copied this out to a separate topic for a little bit more relevance.
Some more info, now that I'm on a desktop.
- You walk in. No appointment needed. You'll be put in a queue and the wait times will depend on the day / time of day / seasonal issues. We used to like a doctor and would call ahead to find out if he was on duty and ask for him. The wait time would be a bit longer as you're waiting for a specific doc. Again, not that long .. 30-45 mins.
- Not exactly urgent care, but yes outside of office hours, they're a good venue for getting treatment for an urgent issue. We'd taken our kid there when he was very very young, well past midnight if I recall correctly and he was treated and admitted. His pediatrician was called and she visited the next morning, prescribed a course of treatment and released him. Don't remember the cost - not abnormally high.
- A relative who had fallen down was admitted and had to be stitched up. If I recall that was an expensive procedure costing $10-15K for x-rays and the stitching up. If you can afford it, they're a good alternative to waiting for hours at a govt ER where such a problem would have been triaged to a non-critical level.
- Costs are not abnormally high. $300-800 for the GP charges, depending on the time day / day of week + meds and any other procedures like x-rays etc.