Urgent care centers first opened in the United States in the early 1980s during a time in which a shortage of primary care physicians originated (Weinick & Betancourt, 2007). As a result of the disparity, entrepreneurial physicians established urgent care centers to fill the gap in the market. However, upon its conception, the urgent care industry suffered a sudden decline. One of the causes of the regression was that many of the earlier versions of the urgent care centers were staffed by physicians who were not optimally trained to provide the type of care required; quality issues became well known (McNeeley, 2012). Additionally, such centers faced opposition from local hospitals. As urgent care centers grew in popularity, hospitals began
