UCSF Health Opens Urgent Care Clinic at Bayfront Medical Building

When UCSF Health opened its Bayfront Medical Building in August 2024, the inclusion of an urgent care clinic presented an exciting new offering for the health system, the UCSF Department of Emergency Medicine, and the local community.

In the clinic, attending physicians from the department work with family medicine and internal medicine physicians to evaluate and treat urgent but non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries in adults. The site is outfitted with dynamic tools and technology, including computed tomography (CT) and point-of-care ultrasound.

A Powerful Approach to Delivering Urgent Care

“Strategically, the urgent care clinic makes a lot of sense because it’s meeting an unmet need for the area,” says Maria Raven, MD, MPH, MS, vice chair and chief of emergency medicine at UCSF Medical Center.

“The easy access to care, the advanced imaging on-site and full-time staffing by physicians and seasoned RNs [registered nurses] offers service and expertise not typically available in most urgent care clinics around the country,” says Bayfront Medical Director Allison Boyd, MD, who is also a board-certified emergency physician.

The RNs, who are experienced in patient flow, complete intakes on every patient and can safely order some diagnostic tests on the spot, thus speeding up care delivery. The clinic also offers telehealth appointments for patients when appropriate. The team expects to eventually expand this option to patients throughout the state.

Room for Growth

Currently, the clinic sees close to 70 patients a day on average, but Boyd stresses that with 16 patient care rooms, including two nursing intake rooms and two procedure rooms, there is room for growth. Open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week, the clinic might extend to 16 hours a day, depending on patient need.

To visit the clinic, patients can either arrive with an appointment – the preferred approach – or as a walk-in. Referrals are welcome from both UCSF and community providers and the clinic accepts most insurance, as well as patients who need to pay out of pocket. The clinic is also the official urgent care provider for the San Francisco Giants, who play their home games just down the street.

“This has been a huge undertaking, and it is already a massive success for UCSF,” says Raven.