It’s never fun for kids or adults to develop a high fever or to wrench a back muscle, but why does it always seem to happen on a Friday? Or late in the afternoon? If your physician isn’t available, does this mean a trip to an emergency room? NorthBay Healthcare has another solution: Care ’til 8.

The Care ’til 8 service is located at the NorthBay Healthcare Centers for Primary Care in Fairfield and Vacaville, and operates Monday through Friday, from 12:30 p.m. until 8 p.m. The Fairfield location is also open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends. The service accepts a number of insurance plans and offers payment options.

The program’s goal is to offer convenient and affordable care for patients facing non-life- threatening issues or chronic conditions, noted Omar Siddiqui, practice manager for Care ’til 8.

“That is the goal behind the program,” he said, “to provide convenient care for patients outside of the cost and inconvenience of an emergency room.”

 

Omar recalled a patient who got off the plane in San Francisco after a long international flight and headed straight to Care ’til 8, complaining of numbness in her leg. It was a Friday afternoon and if she hadn’t come to Care ’til 8 she would have faced an expensive alternative for what turned out to be deep vein thrombosis.

That case was memorable, he noted, but many patient visits to Care ’til 8 aren’t that dramatic.

“We treat a lot of strep throat, respiratory infections, urinary tract infections, sprains, for patients of all ages, as well as visitors to the area or those who don’t have a primary care physician at this time,” Omar said. “For many it’s also the first time they’ve been introduced to NorthBay, as well.”

“We work on a team concept,” noted Marina Bradley, nurse practitioner for Care ’til 8. “We’re backing up the primary care team and helping to provide better access for our patients, who need care after work hours, or when their primary care physician might not be available during the day.”

“The program’s goal is to offer convenient and affordable care for patients facing non- life-threatening issues or chronic conditions.”
— Omar Siddiqui, practice manager for Care ’til 8

Drop-ins are accepted based on capacity, but appointments are preferred. Providers are not allowed to prescribe or refill opioid-based pain prescriptions.

The Care ’til 8 programs are located at the Center for Primary Care in Fairfield at 2458 Hilborn Road, and in Vacaville at 421 Nut Tree Road. For more information, call (707) 646-5500 or visit www.NorthBay.org/care8.