Last Saturday my son learned why the rules of rugby forbid jumping…you can get hurt or hurt someone else.

In this instance, my son received the injury.  As he carried the ball down the field, he jumped to avoid a tackle, but ended up being brought down on top of the ball with extra energy.  His ribs and sternum burned with pain…especially when he took a breath.

We immediately iced the worst area and hopped in the car.  Phoenix Children’s Hospital was on the way home, but I kept wondering if I had another Saturday morning option for a one-stop shop for medical care and the inevitable x-rays.

Completely unprepared, I took him into the emergency room.  I even asked the nice lady at admissions if she knew of an urgent care facility offering medical care and imaging services at the same location.  She smiled and told me once I got to admissions at one provider, I should just stick it out.

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My son did not break anything, but managed to beat himself up pretty badly.  I expect he will want to take Monday off from rugby practice to let it heal a little more.

For me, I am beating myself up for not following my own advice and being prepared for the most cost-effective way to get health care for my son.  I should have already known the locations of the urgent care facilities with imaging so I could choose one of those over an emergency room.

Depending on your health insurance, you may not see any difference in cost for a weekend need to get some x-rays and evaluation, but I hope when my bill comes in, it does not knock the wind out of me.

Do you know the location of the ideal hospital, urgent care facility or dentist in case the need arises on a weekend?