Heavens Urgent Care becomes the first urgent care center to earn the Certified Autism Center™ (CAC) designation in Arizona and joins dozens of other Mesa and surrounding community organizations as part of the Mesa Autism Certified City initiative. The CAC designation is awarded by The International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES) to organizations that complete training and certification to better understand and serve autistic individuals. Heavens Urgent Care entire staff have completed training to better identify, communicate, and treat patients who may be autistic and need adjustments to their clinical experience or treatment.

“Heavens Urgent Care is proud to be the first and only autism certified urgent care in Arizona. We believe in caring for patients and families with the highest quality of care and compassion. All of our staff has completed autism training and certification through IBCCES and many of our staff have autistic family members and understand the special needs of this population,” said Roxanne Heavens, of Heavens Urgent Care. “Our goal is to make your urgent care visit as pleasant and smooth as possible. We believe that all patients matter and treat them with the utmost respect. Our urgent care decided to focus on autism because we feel that there are not enough specialized health care clinics who understand the unique needs of autistic patients. Statistically, autistic patients are more likely to use urgent care for their health care needs. Our team wanted to do something different, so we decided to serve a population which we felt were being underserved. 

Currently, 1 in 44 children are diagnosed with autism in the US according to the CDC, and a growing number of individuals also have sensory sensitivities or receive an autism diagnosis later in life. Many healthcare providers who work in settings such as urgent care and emergency rooms may not have specific autism training to help supplement their medical training and knowledge, which can lead to delays in care, miscommunication, or even misdiagnosis. 

“We were so pleased when Heavens Urgent Care reached out to us because they had a great desire to connect with and serve their patients in the best way possible. With Mesa being an Autism Certified City, today’s announcement from Heavens Urgent Care adds to the rich community support that Mesa offers,” said Myron Pincomb, IBCCES Board Chairman.

For more than 20 years, IBCCES has been the industry leader in cognitive disorder training and certification for education, healthcare, and corporate professionals around the globe. IBCCES provides evidence-based training and certification programs created in conjunction with its board of clinical and subject matter experts and autistic individuals to provide professionals with a better understanding of autism and other cognitive differences.

IBCCES also created CertifiedAutismCenter.com, as a free online resource for parents, that lists certified locations and professionals. Each organization listed on the site has met the Certified Autism Center™ (CAC) requirements.

About the Heavens Urgent Care

Heavens Urgent Care is proud to serve Pinal County and Maricopa County and surrounding areas. We serve Apache Junction, Mesa and the Phoenix East Valley. Our Urgent Care is situated in Apache Junction, Arizona.  We care for people of all ages with expertise in the care of older patients with complex medical conditions.   We believe in caring for patients and families with the highest quality of care and compassion. 

Our staff and providers have had special training to help when it is difficult to access elsewhere. Our team wanted to do something different, so we decided to serve a population which we felt were being underserved. 100% of our staff have completed autism certification through IBCCES.