BROOKINGS – A new walk-in medical clinic, Quick Care, has opened in Brookings.

This is the third Quick Care location open in the state, with the other two being in Watertown and Huron. The Brookings location is in Eastside Commons, near Hy-Vee.

“When you think about health care, you have heart attacks, strokes, they go to the emergency room, then your primary care provider manages your blood pressure long term and manages your chronic illnesses, that all in primary care,” said Melissa Magstadt, part-owner of Quick Care. “But the rest of health care, the ear infections, the strep throats, the stuff that happens in an urgent care basis, not bad enough for an emergency room visit and the primary care providers are usually booked up, so we fit in that little piece, in a place where you need to get it taken care of in a timely matter.” 

Magstadt and Holly Gisi-York, part-owner of Quick Care, were nurse practitioners for the last decade before opening Quick Care, working in a lot of emergency rooms and clinics in the area. They wanted to take the best of their experiences and put them together in one place.

“Back in the old days, you could fit someone in for an ear infection in the same day,” Magstadt said. “But now primary care providers are so packed they can’t fit those in. That’s how urgent care came about.” 

They opened their first Quick Care location three years ago, the first one in the state, in Watertown before expanding to Huron and now Brookings, which opened on June 15. 

“We took the best of all that and put it together with our own place,” Magstadt said. 

What made this possible was a change in South Dakota law, which allows nurse practitioners to practice independently with no collaborating physician. This meant that there wasn’t a need for a medical director and allowed nurse practitioners to open their own practices. 

Quick Care is a walk-in clinic, no appointment necessary, with hopes of getting patients in and out as quick as possible. 

“You need to be taken care of, and you’re probably not going to get in quick enough,” Magstadt added. “There just aren’t enough primary care providers in the workforce.”

According to Magstadt, the average time for a patient at Quick Care is around 15 minutes. Magstadt added that the ER can “take hours,” and that the goal of Quick Care is save people both time and money. 

“Things happen and then 15 minutes later we want you back out there,” Magstadt said. “We’re not meant to be primary care or ER.”

This means that Quick Care can treat minor injuries, lacerations, strep and COVID test, as well as physicals, for sports or pre-ops. They do not, however, treat chronic illnesses or life-threatening injuries.

“We can take things out of eyes and noses,” Magstadt added. “We do things that can’t wait two or three weeks but don’t require an emergency room visit.”

Quick Care accepts all major insurance, and they also have cash pay options. 

Quick Care is open seven days a week: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Visit Quick Care Brookings at 722 22nd Ave. or call at 605-692-8484.

Contact Addison DeHaven at adehaven@brookingsregister.com.