New Amazon Alexa Option Locates, Provides Wait Times at Nearest Henry Ford Walk-in Clinic or Urgent Care

DETROIT – Need urgent medical care? You can now ask Alexa where to go.  

Check wait times at your nearest Henry Ford Health System Walk-in Clinic or Urgent Care without picking up your phone or pushing a button, thanks to the Henry Ford Urgent Care skill for voice-activated assistant Alexa.  

Henry Ford Health System, committed to providing “Radically Convenient” primary care services, is the first health system in southeast Michigan to offer this functionality through Alexa. The System has Walk-In Clinics and Urgent Care Centers that are open seven days per week and on holidays for medical concerns that aren’t quite an emergency, but need to be seen same-day.  

“This is going to allow patients to access same-day healthcare services more easily than ever before,” said Dr. Diane George, Chief Medical Officer of Primary Care for Henry Ford Health System’s Henry Ford Medical Group. “Without even calling or visiting a website, patients can now ask Alexa to locate the nearest Henry Ford Walk-In Clinic or Urgent Care Center and hear the most up-to-date wait times.”  

The skill is an app-like program that allows Alexa to search through Amazon Echo devices. Once the skill is enabled, Alexa users can access these features by asking Alexa questions such as:

• “Alexa, ask Henry Ford Health for the closest Urgent Care.”  

• “Alexa, ask Henry Ford Health for the wait time at the walk-in clinic on 12 Mile road.”  

• “Alexa, ask Henry Ford Health for the MyCare Advice Line phone number.”                     

Some of the conditions that can be treated at Walk-In Clinics and Urgent Care Centers include fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, eye infections, skin rashes, sprains & strains, and cuts requiring stitches. Both adult and pediatric medical concerns can be treated at these facilities. Doctors and nurse practitioners at Walk-In Clinics and Urgent Care Centers provide the same services and same level of care, without the expensive copays and longer wait times of an emergency room visit. Most health insurance plans are accepted.  

To learn more or to enable this skill, please visit HenryFord.com/Alexa.  

MEDIA CONTACT: Tammy Battaglia / Tammy.Battaglia@hfhs.org / 248-881-0809 cell/text