SAN ANTONIO – When Maria Snell's son broke his arm during football practice, she did not make an appointment with the family doctor.
When a dog bit mail carrier Mark Trevino in the leg, he did not rush to the emergency room.
Instead, each walked into a neighborhood urgent care center.
"They do have the means to X-ray him and cast him as well," Snell said "so it's a one-stop-(shop) for me."
"They're very convenient," Trevino said. "They're everywhere."
Once called the doc-in-the-box, urgent care is now a multi-billion-dollar industry. And, it's booming.
There are nearly 7,100 urgent-care centers in the U.S., 583 in Texas and now 52 in San Antonio, excluding the suburbs, according to the Urgent Care Association of America.
They're popping up in neighborhood strip malls right next to the pizzeria or dry cleaners, offering fast service that is more affordable than a trip to the emergency room.
Urgent care is trendy, but hardly new.
"Putting a neon sign up above your storefront was heresy," said Dr. Bernard Swift, CEO and founder of Texas MedClinic, the largest urgent-care provider in San Antonio.
When he opened the first clinic 34 years ago, it was novel concept.
"In fact, in was frowned upon for anyone to go out and set up their medical practice in a retail center," Swift said.
Now, private investors, insurance companies and even hospitals are jumping on board.
"I think they see a chance to make a quick dollar," Swift said.
The growth is driven partly by the Affordable Care Act and an expected increase in the number of insured patients seeking health care.
It's also fueled by what Swift calls a shift in consumer expectations.
"People today are willing to forego an ongoing relationship with a family physician for the convenience of being able to go seek care whenever they want," he said.
Urgent-care has found its niche.
But now with urgent care centers, drug store clinics and the more recent trend in freestanding emergency rooms, consumers are faced with more options and perhaps more confusion about where to go for what.
"The decision consumers have to make as far as where to go for any given medical problem is probably one of the great conundrums of our day."
Urgent-care is for generally healthy people who suffer non-life-threatening medical episodes like sprains, cuts, sore throats and flu, according to the industry.
The industry is expected to continue to grow: two more Texas MedClinics are in the works.
"I think the urgent care market is very strong," Swift said. He also expected the growth to level out and see some businesses fade away.
For now, though, consumers are seeing healthy competition.