Methodist Healthcare
December 04, 2020

Methodist Healthcare is welcoming five new neighborhood free-standing emergency rooms (FSERs) to care for families. Delivering greater convenience and easier access, the addition of these facilities will give patients more options when seeking acute medical care as well as nearby COVID-19 assessments.

Identifying the gap between Urgent Care centers and FSERs will help patients understand where to go for their medical needs depending on the urgency. Urgent Care facilities work under set hours of operation and treat minor injuries and illnesses. Often times, they are staffed with physician assistants and nursing assistants rather than doctors and RNs extensively trained in emergency care. Urgent Cares typically lack advanced imaging equipment such as CT scans, X-rays, and ultrasound technology, limiting their capabilities.

Free-standing emergency rooms offer comprehensive and immediate care 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Board-certified physicians and emergency-trained nurses are readily available to treat serious, sometimes life-threatening emergency medical conditions including chest pain, respiratory distress, abdominal pain, broken bones or dislocated joints, serious infections, injuries, stroke symptoms, and more. FSERs operate the same as a hospital emergency department, offering advanced technology and equipment to support a variety of emergency medical conditions. Since they are not directly connected to a main campus hospital, they cannot admit critically ill patients or perform surgery; however, patients can seamlessly be transferred to a Methodist Healthcare hospital, if necessary.  

“Our free-standing emergency rooms will offer the same quality standards and necessary resources as our Methodist Healthcare campuses with minimal wait-times and closer proximity to home,” commented Miriam Pendon, Vice President of Emergency Services at Methodist Hospital. “We recognized a need to offer trustworthy and high-quality care throughout our San Antonio communities, especially as COVID-19 cases begin to increase. We are excited to expand our access to care and provide a convenient option for patients when they need it most.”

The new Methodist Healthcare free-standing emergency rooms will be located at:

  • Legacy Trails, 9211 Potranco Road (NOW OPEN!)
  • De Zavala Rd.,12805 W. I-10 (NOW OPEN!)
  • Nacogdoches Rd., 13434 Nacogdoches Road (Opening January 2021)
  • Helotes,12285 Bandera Road (Opening early 2021)
  • Kitty Hawk Rd., 7898 Kitty Hawk Road (Opening early 2021)
Methodist ER Legacy Trails
Methodist ER De Zavala Rd