Urgent care for kids,
entirely over video.

Fever under age three

We never treat a fever over 100.4°F in a child under three over video. A fever at that age needs to be examined in person, and we will send you where it can be. We'll stay on the call and help you decide where to go.

Every age, not every treatment

We see children of all ages. For infants and some younger children the visit is more often guidance — what to watch for, what to do tonight, when to be seen — than a prescription. That judgment is the clinician's to make on the call.

Testing

Strep and flu can be tested.

Both need a swab, so the clinician orders the test during the visit and directs you to a lab or pharmacy near you. The result comes back to us, and we follow up with treatment if it's positive.

What we can't do over video

Anything that needs hands.

Injuries needing imaging, deep cuts, trouble breathing, dehydration needing fluids, anything requiring a physical exam or an ear canal we can't see. We'll tell you in the first few minutes and point you to the right place.

Video visit

We're building a membership around connected devices: a home kit that lets a clinician listen, look and measure remotely, so a video visit can carry more of an exam. We haven't settled on the kit yet, so we're not selling it.

Why we exist · a note from Dr. Laura

I've had five kids sick at once. I built the clinic I needed.

When the strep goes through the whole house, or the fever spikes at 2am, the pediatrician's office has been closed for hours. What's left is an urgent care with a long wait and a clinician who mostly sees adults, or an emergency room visit that costs more than a month of groceries — often for a rash, a bite or a stomach bug.

As a mom I wanted a clinician who listens, tells me what I can handle at home, and says just as plainly when I can't. As a doctor I knew which problems could be handled well on a screen. Hugs is both: pediatric-experienced clinicians at every hour, one $75 visit, and the same care I'd want for my own five.

Mission

To give every family a pediatric clinician they can reach in minutes, at any hour, who treats what can be treated safely over video and says plainly when a child needs to be seen in person.

Vision

A country where no parent sits up at 2am wondering whether it can wait until morning, because the answer is one video call away, in every state, for a price they can plan around.

Our brand promise

We'll treat your child like one of our own.

A real, US-based clinician who listens before advising. A clear plan you can follow tonight, in writing. Honesty about what a screen can and can't do, and help getting to the right place when it can't. One price, no surprises. And a follow-through that treats your worry as seriously as your child's symptoms.

Signed, a mom of five and the clinicians of LPMD Medical Group.

Clarity

Plain words, a written plan, and a straight answer about what we can and can't do over video.

Compassion

We listen before we advise. A scared parent at 2am deserves patience, not a script.

Excellence

Board-certified, US-based clinicians, pediatric guidelines, and a standard we'd hold for our own kids.

Love

For children and the families who love them. It's why the clinic exists and how every visit should feel.

Safety

Firm limits on what we treat on video, and a fast, honest handoff to in-person care when a child needs it.

Efficiency

Sign up once, book in minutes, leave with the issue handled and the prescription already at your pharmacy.

Meet Dr. Laura · mom of five

A mom of five who happens to be a doctor.

Dr. Laura Purdy, MD, MBA, is a board-certified family physician, the founder of Swellcare, and the mother of five kids, two dogs and a cat. She knows what it's like when the fever, the vomiting or the strep throat goes through the whole house in the same week, and what a parent needs at 2am: a real clinician who listens, says what can be handled at home, and says just as plainly when it can't.

Her work in virtual care began as a battalion surgeon with a U.S. Army Special Operations Civil Affairs unit, guiding medics through emergencies across East and West Africa by radio and phone. Fourteen years of active-duty service, more than 20,000 virtual consultations and medical-director roles at more than fifty digital health companies later, she built Swellcare, and now Hugs, as the clinic she would send her own family to.