Accessing Care on Holidays

Holidays often bring family, friends and fun, but they can bring hour changes and closures for the healthcare services you need, too. If it’s a holiday – like Independence Day, the Friday after Thanksgiving or Martin Luther King Jr. Day – but you or a loved one is sick or hurt, what should you do?

Healthcare needs don’t stop for holidays, so neither do we. Need care on a holiday for yourself or a loved one? We offer these points of access to meet your needs.

• When you have an emergency.
  Our emergency department is open 24/7 every day of the year. If you can get there quickly and safely, do so. If you need immediate care or help, call 911.
• When you have an urgent need.
  Our urgent care locations are open to patients every day of the calendar year but Christmas Day. You can visit in person or consider an urgent care video visit. Learn more, call 913-574-2273 or go to the main menu in MyChart to schedule a video visit.
• When you need to reach a provider.
  You can! You can reach a live switchboard operator every hour of every day of the year, and they can assist with connections to on-call providers after hours. Call 913-588-5000. Note, this team is unable to support routine needs, like scheduling, during holiday closures.
  
  When you need to reach an on-call physician at The University of Kansas Cancer Center, call 913-588-7750.
• When you need to refill a prescription.
  The Kansas City, Kan. retail pharmacies in Bell Hospital Tower and Cambridge Tower A typically offer holiday hours. Call 913-588-2361 or email MyRPH@KUMC.edu. Pharmacy representatives will be ready to help you on the phone or by email during open pharmacy hours.
• When you have a nonurgent question for your care team.
  You are always welcome to message your care team in MyChart. This portal, best for simple, nonurgent needs, is monitored and managed only during business hours. Feel free to message whenever it’s convenient for you, and watch for a response when business hours resume.
• When you need to schedule a future appointment.
  You can self-schedule certain appointments in MyChart. You may also request an appointment using our online form. A member of our team will respond to this request as soon as possible once business hours resume.

 

To plan routine healthcare needs for yourself and your loved ones, and to get urgent or emergency care if needed on a holiday, be aware that holidays bring schedule changes at The University of Kansas Health System each year.

• New Year’s Day
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• The day after Thanksgiving
• Christmas Day

We observe holidays on the calendar day on which they fall except when they fall on weekend days. In those cases, a holiday falling on a Saturday will be observed on the prior Friday, while a holiday falling on a Sunday will be observed on the following Monday.

In advance of the holidays listed above, we provide details of modifications to our hours and services including doctors’ offices, pharmacies, walk-in labs, urgent care and more. You can find this information in our News section. You can find cancer care hour changes in our cancer center website’s News section. Once available, we share these details on our social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Be sure to follow us there.

We also add a banner alert in the MyChart patient portal and update our on-hold recorded messaging for those who call us during a holiday.

Originally posted: 9/1/2023