Urgent Care Guides

• • OCTOBER 17, 2026
  

  Food Poisoning vs. Stomach Flu: How to Tell & When to Get Care

  Food poisoning often starts within hours of eating contaminated food and may affect several people who ate the same thing. Stomach flu (viral gastroenteritis, often norovirus) usually starts 12 to 48 hours after exposure and spreads person to person. Both cause vomiting, diarrhea and cramps, and both usually improve in 1 to 3 days. Get care for signs of dehydration, bloody diarrhea, high fever, or symptoms lasting more than 2 to 3 days.

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  • Urgent Care Guides
• • OCTOBER 17, 2026
  

  Urgent Care vs. Retail Clinic (like CVS MinuteClinic): Which Should You Choose?

  Retail clinics inside pharmacies and stores are best for simple problems, such as a minor sore throat, pink eye or a vaccine, usually seen by a nurse practitioner. Urgent care handles a wider range, including X-rays, stitches, splints, IV fluids, breathing treatments, lab work and EKGs, often with physician oversight. If you might need a test, an X-ray or a procedure, urgent care saves you a second trip.

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  • Urgent Care Guides
• • OCTOBER 17, 2026
  

  Sprain or Broken Bone? How to Tell and Where to Go

  It’s often hard to tell a sprain from a fracture without an X-ray. Signs that point to a break include a snap at the time of injury, severe pain over the bone, a visible deformity, or not being able to put any weight on it. Urgent care with on-site X-ray can diagnose and splint most sprains and simple fractures. Go to the ER for a bone poking through the skin, a badly deformed limb, numbness or a cold, pale hand or foot, or a hip, thigh, neck or back injury.

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  • Urgent Care Guides
• • OCTOBER 17, 2026
  

  Hurt at Work in Virginia? Workers’ Comp & Urgent Care Guide

  If you’re hurt at work in Virginia, get emergency care first if needed, then report the injury to your employer right away. Virginia employers must give injured workers a “panel” of at least three doctors from different practices, and you generally choose your treating doctor from that list. If your employer doesn’t provide a valid panel, you may be able to choose your own doctor. PACS Urgent Care accepts workers’ comp and treats common work injuries at both clinics.

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  • Urgent Care Guides
• • OCTOBER 17, 2026
  

  Chest Pain: Urgent Care or ER?

  Call 911 for chest pain or pressure that is sudden, severe, crushing or spreading to your arm, jaw, neck or back, or that comes with shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, dizziness or fainting. Don’t drive yourself. Urgent care with an on-site EKG may be appropriate for mild chest discomfort that is clearly tied to a cough, a strained muscle or heartburn, in an otherwise healthy person. When in doubt, treat it as an emergency.

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  • Urgent Care Guides
• • OCTOBER 17, 2026
  

  Immigration Medical Exam (Form I-693) in Virginia: What to Bring & Expect

  Green card applicants filing Form I-485 in the U.S. need an immigration medical exam on Form I-693, done by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon. USCIS requires the completed, sealed I-693 to be submitted with the I-485 in most cases. The COVID-19 vaccine has not been required since January 22, 2025. PACS has civil surgeons who perform walk-in I-693 exams, with required vaccines available on site.

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  • Urgent Care Guides
• • OCTOBER 17, 2026
  

  Confidential STD Testing: What to Expect at Urgent Care

  Urgent care can test for common sexually transmitted infections (STIs), such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis, syphilis, HIV and herpes, often with a urine sample, swab or blood draw. Results are private and protected by federal health privacy law. Many STIs can be treated at the same visit or once results return. PACS offers walk-in, confidential STD testing at both clinics.

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  • Urgent Care Guides
• • OCTOBER 17, 2026
  

  VHSL Sports Physical in Virginia: Form, Rules & Where to Get One

  Virginia High School League (VHSL) athletes need a completed VHSL Pre-Participation Physical Examination (PPE) form before they can practice or play. Under the current VHSL rule, a physical is valid for 14 months from the date the provider signs it. Your school may require specific pages, so check with your athletic department. PACS offers walk-in sports physicals for $55 self-pay at both clinics.

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