Opened last Thursday, the walk-in clinic Nittany Urgent Care has seen more than 10 patients, and physician Dr. Paul Kattupalli anticipates activity to increase.
The facility features six examination rooms, an x-ray room, a conference room and a laboratory used for basic blood-glucose tests, urinalyses and pregnancy tests. A small storage room serves as a makeshift pharmacy, with two wood closets housing prescription medication offered to patients on-site. The waiting room just inside is slowly being filled with toys, books and magazines.
Nittany Urgent Care, catering to patients of all ages, is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. during the workweek, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
The clinic’s staff — currently comprised of two physicians, a nurse and an x-ray technician — are trained and equipped to treat cases from infectious diseases to gastrointestinal maladies, bone fractures and psychiatric disorders.
Not only will patients find the clinic’s hours and wide range of services convenient, but they will appreciate some financial aspects of Nittany Medical Care, as well, Lori Facer, the clinic’s nurse, said.
“We accept medical assistance here,” Facer said, “And that’s something that most other doctors in this area have been turning down lately.”
Students are particularly encouraged to take advantage of the clinic’s promotional physical exam package, offered for $25. Kattupalli said discounted vaccinations, sports injuries treatment and drug screening tests, as well as hearing and vision tests for driver’s license examinations were also developed with Penn Staters in mind.
Locals and students alike may benefit from a few innovative programs specific to the Nittany Urgent Care clinic, including a weight reduction program combining medication with nutritional planning, as well as individual counseling about the long-term effects of smoking and sexually transmitted infections.
Kattupalli, trained in psychiatry and family medicine, said counseling is offered to every patient, regardless of their case, to ensure they understand their conditions.
“We give specific, comprehensive education for all infections and diseases,” Kattupalli said. “We don’t just treat our patients and tell them to go home.”
He said he often refers his patients to his personal website, drpaul.org, for access to more than 200 lectures he has given at universities in Florida and Pennsylvania about common ailments.
Nittany Medical Care also hopes to provide State College with further opportunities for both education and treatment by hosting free clinics downtown in the future, Kattupalli said.