Primary Care Q & A

What is primary care?

Primary care is your first stop for all routine health preventive needs and where you get comprehensive health screening tailored to individual age and gender.

Middle River Healthcare provides comprehensive health care to people ages 18+. Everyone receives an individualized and carefully tailored treatment plan to address their health conditions.

What services does primary care offer?

Comprehensive Blood Test, Prevent screening test including cancer screening, mammogram, vascular screening bone density and more as indicated per patient’s age and gender.

Urgent care

Urgent care needs are provided same day with goal of meeting your medical needs without ER visit as clinically appropriate. Common acute health issues that can be treated in person or virtually at your comfort zone, including:

• Colds and flu
• Abdominal pain
• sore throats
• Earwax impaction
• Pain/difficulty initiating urine/urination
• Diarrhea
• Bug/animal bites
• Pink eye/dry eye
• Headaches
• Unusual discharges
• COVID symptoms
• Fevers
• Headaches and migraines
• Skin rashes
• Sprains and strains
• Cuts, bruises, and burns

You can visit Middle River Healthcare for help with any mild to moderate condition. However, you should call 911 or visit your nearest hospital emergency room if you have severe symptoms.

Potentially life-threatening problems include heart attack and stroke symptoms, seizures and loss of consciousness, and critical injuries.

Chronic disease management

Patients with illnesses, such as thyroid disorders, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic pain, require continuing care and regular checkups. Middle River Healthcare provides all your routine care and tests and helps you make healthy lifestyle changes to boost your well-being.

If you see a specialist for your chronic condition, your provider works closely with them to deliver comprehensive care.

Family planning

Family planning enables you to choose a birth control method to prevent unwanted pregnancy. When you’re ready for a family, Middle River Healthcare also helps with preconception planning and any difficulties conceiving.

Medication management

If you take medications, your primary care provider offers routine monitoring and reviews. Medication management ensures you get the most from your treatment and avoid troubling side effects.

Telemedicine

This is interaction between you and your provider in your comfort zone using HIPPA compliant video conferencing to assess and treat your medical need.

Lab testing

Middle River Healthcare offers people of all ages a comprehensive blood work-up as well as services like STI (sexually transmitted infection) testing.

What primary care services prevent ill health?

Primary care services help you avoid health problems. Some of the many services Middle River Healthcare provides include:

• Immunizations
• Cholesterol checks
• Blood sugar monitoring
• Blood pressure measurement
• Annual physicals
• Cancer screenings
• Nutrition counseling
• Cardiovascular disease screening
• Help to stop smoking
• Weight-loss programs
• Mental health screening

Preventing disease ensures you avoid the pain, misery, inconvenience, and expense that health problems can cause.

STI Testing Q & A

What are STIs?

STIs (sexually transmitted infections) are diseases you might catch from an infected person when you’re sexually intimate. Common STIs include:

• Chlamydia
• Genital herpes
• Gonorrhea
• HSV1/2
• Human papillomavirus (HPV)
• HIV/AIDS
• Syphilis
• Bacterial Vaginosis
• Hepatitis
• Trichomoniasis

You can also contract hepatitis through sexual activity.

Some STIs are curable, while others aren’t. Untreated STIs can cause long-term complications, including infertility and cancer. Certain conditions, like syphilis and AIDS, can be fatal without the proper treatment.

Preventing STIs is best. Always use condoms during sexual intercourse to limit the spread of infection and avoid risky activities, such as sleeping with many partners. HIV prophylaxis (PrEP) treatment is available to patient ages 18 and over. Although this treatment requires repeat test every 3 months.

When should I go for STI testing?

You can call or book appointment at Middle River Healthcare for STI testing if you have symptoms of an infection. These include:

• Genital sores
• Vaginal or penile discharge
• Genital warts
• Groin rash
• Painful urination
• Genital swelling and reddening
• Bleeding between periods
• Genital irritation and itching
• Painful intercourse

Some STIs cause symptoms like fever, excessive sweating, weight loss, aches and pains, and jaundice (yellowed skin). However, many other medical conditions could cause these problems as well.

Very often, STIs don’t cause any symptoms at all. Therefore, it’s important to schedule regular STI screening if you’re sexually active.

What does STI testing involve?

STI testing is easy and typically painless. No single test can identify all STIs, so you might need several tests to ensure you don’t miss anything.

Middle River Healthcare primarily uses body swab, blood and urine tests for routine STI screening. If you have STI symptoms, your provider might order STI tests per signs and symptoms you present with. Some tests are performed on-site in our CLIA waived lab with even faster results.

Testing for chlamydia involves taking cells from the cervix or urethra. HPV testing also uses a cervical swab. A routine Pap smear (which often forms part of a well-woman exam) can detect the presence of HPV (the primary cause of cervical cancer).

What happens after STI testing?

Some STIs, like gonorrhea, are bacterial infections that require antibiotic treatment. Others, like HIV, need long-term treatment with antiviral medications.

If you have a positive test result, you need to tell anyone you’ve been intimate with in the last few months so they can get a test.

Middle River Healthcare offers same-day onsite STI testing and treatment for fast results.

Addiction Treatment Q & A

What is addiction?

Addiction is a physical and psychological reliance on substances like drugs, alcohol, or prescription medications. Some people’s addictions involve activities like gambling.

Examples of substances that can trigger addiction include:

• Illegal opioids like heroin
• Prescription opioids such as oxycodone and fentanyl
• Inhalants such as glue and aerosols
• Sedatives, hypnotics, and anxiety medications
• Stimulants like cocaine
• Marijuana (cannabis)
• Alcohol

Substance use and addiction have extensive and potentially life-threatening effects on your health and well-being. However, when you have an addiction, your brain and body develop a need for the substance that is overwhelming and frequently all-consuming.

Therefore, it can be challenging to overcome these challenges. Middle River Healthcare offers expert treatment and support to give you the best chance of beating your addiction and getting your life back.

How will I know if I need addiction treatment?

Some of the signs of addiction include neglecting your responsibilities and spending excessive amounts on substances. You might have problems at work or home because your focus is on obtaining and using your substance of choice.

Many people with addictions end up losing their job, experience relationship breakdowns, or find themselves homeless. Some turn to illegal activities, like theft and prostitution, to fund their habit.

Before you reach this stage, there are warning signs that you have a problem. Seeking help as soon as possible could prevent your life from falling apart and save your health.

What does addiction treatment involve?

The addiction treatment at Middle River Healthcare typically includes using medications to help you through the withdrawal phase (example):

Alcohol Treatment

The combination of medication assisted treatment (MAT) and counseling is considered the most effective treatment for alcohol use disorder. The following medications are used to treat alcohol use disorder:

• Campral: An oral medication that reduces the desire to drink alcohol
• Antabuse: An oral medication that results in an unpleasant reaction to alcohol when drinking
• Naltrexone: An oral medication, or monthly injection (Vivitrol), that suppresses the euphoric and pleasurable effects associated with alcohol

SUBOXONE TREATMENT

Suboxone is a range of Buprenorphine-based medications that can work in a Medication Assisted Treatment program for treating opioid use disorders. When you stop taking opioids, the once full receptors in the brain become empty. The lack of opioids produces strong craving effects and intense withdrawal symptoms, including nausea, fatigue, panic attacks, insomnia, and more.

Suboxone acts as a partial agonist (receptor-filling agent). When you take Suboxone, the opioid receptors in their brain are partial filled, enough to diminish cravings and prevent withdrawal symptoms. At the same time, there is no “high” that comes along with taking the medication. This balance means that you can take Suboxone regularly and go about a productive day-to-day life.

Women’s Health Q & A

What women’s health services are available?

At Middle River Healthcare experts provide comprehensive women’s health services, including:

Well-woman exams

A well-woman exam is an annual pelvic exam and general checkup where your provider evaluates your current health and assesses your risk of future problems. It’s a vital preventive medicine service that identifies signs of disease early on when it’s more treatable.

Pap smears

A Pap smear screens for cervical cancer. Your provider gathers a sample of cells from your cervix and sends them to a specialist lab for analysis. You can have your Pap smear during your well-woman exam.

Breast cancer screening

During a well-woman exam, your provider examines your breasts for abnormalities. They may refer you for a mammogram or ultrasound if anything unusual is found or recommend a routine mammogram, especially when you reach middle age.

Family planning

Family planning services offer advice and treatments to help you avoid unwanted pregnancy, then start a family when you’re ready. Pregnancy tests are also available.

STI testing

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) often cause no symptoms. Screening regularly identifies any STIs in sexually active women before they cause irreversible complications. You can also go for an STI test if you develop symptoms that indicate an STI, like a genital rash or discharge.