Staff at the UI QuickCare facility in the University Capitol Centre have been busy, seeing up to 80 patients a day.

But those who need health care at irregular times or without an appointment now have a new option: UI QuickCare East, located at 1843 Lower Muscatine Road.

Staff offered limited QuickCare hours — often from 5 to 8 p.m. — at the UI Family Care location in southeastern Iowa City before adding the new location, clinic manager Lynn McArthur said.

QuickCare East is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends and most holidays.

Patients can stop by QuickCare without making an appointment, and the offices have longer hours than most doctors’ offices, McArthur said. QuickCare is a cheaper option at roughly $59 a visit, opposed to the average $100 at regular offices.

Staff at the new site, which opened roughly two weeks ago, have treated up to 10 patients a day. Despite the slow start, McArthur said, she expects more patients will visit the East Side facility in coming weeks as word spreads.

Business for QuickCare has increased gradually since UI Hospitals and Clinics officials began offering the service roughly two years ago, she said. QuickCare staff have seen a large number of patients with H1N1-related symptoms recently, though McArthur noted that isn’t the reason for the new site.

“Our hope would be that this location be as busy as Old Capitol,” she said, and she expects many students from the Kirkwood Community College’s Iowa City campus across the street will frequent the location.

Seated in an arc in the new facility’s waiting room, four staff members agreed the Lower Muscatine location has been a good addition to the QuickCare system.

“I think the East Side of town just needed it,” said Connie Phommaly, McArthurs’ assistant, noting that people who live near Highway 6 can access the location easily.

Amanda Ferguson, a physician’s assistant, said the option of free parking at the office could also entice more visitors.

The QuickCare staff members said they often see patients with coughs, sore throats, urinary tract infections, and stomach aches.

McArthur said she thinks people with these symptoms have an increasing interest in quick, convenient access to health care without needing an appointment.

“I think it’s kind of the trend with health care today,” she said.