HONESDALE, PA — The word “urgent” in the clinic’s name was causing confusion among patients.

So Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers (WMCHC) has changed the name of Lake Region Urgent Care to Lake Region Walk-in Care to help clarify what services the facility offers.

Teresa Lacey, CEO of WMCHC, said that because of “a trend in patients presenting with symptoms requiring a higher level of care—specifically those which can only be provided by a hospital Emergency Department or Emergency Room—WMCHC reevaluated the word ‘urgent’ within the facility’s title.”

Services at the 273 Grandview Ave. site in Honesdale will continue to be the same seven-day-a-week, no-appointment-required clinic it always has been, Lacey said. 

“It’s important that the community understand changing the name does not alter the scope of care offered,” she said, adding that the name change was done for patient safety. 

“Anyone experiencing life-threatening symptoms such as chest pain or difficulty breathing needs to report to the nearest emergency room, not a walk-in center,” said Matthew Cellini, M.D., Lake Region’s medical director. “Patients spending valuable time waiting to be triaged in a facility unequipped to meet their needs is what we want to avoid.”

Lacey also cited billing discrepancies between patients and their insurance companies based on what is perceived as primary care as opposed to urgent care services as another motivator behind Lake region’s new public persona. 

The Lake Region clinic treats non-life-threatening conditions on a walk-in basis daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The center treats patients age one year and older. The last patient will be taken one hour prior to closing instead of the previous 30 minutes.

Life-threatening emergencies are handled at the 24-hour emergency department at Wayne Memorial Hospital, a clinical affiliate of WMCHC.