The Rockingham Memorial Hospital is opening it's walk-in flu care clinic on weekends starting Friday.

The clinic is geared towards people who are suffering from flu-like symptoms and feel they need to be seen by a medical professional.

It will be located at the RMH Center for Corporate Health in the Kroger shopping center in Harrisonburg.

The clinic will be open Mondays and Fridays from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. and also Saturdays and Sundays from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.

The hospital is seeing more people come to the emergency room, and hospital officials are trying to alleviate the pressure.

The clinic is designed just for patients with flu or flu-like illness. Anyone with more serious complications would still be sent to the emergency room.

"We haven't seen a dramatic jump, but we've seen a steady increase in the numbers, and it is starting to tax our emergency department staff. So, we decided yesterday it would be a good time to go ahead and open our alternate site," says Terri Huffman, director of primary care services for RMH.

Clinic managers say they will work with all patients, including accommodating people with financial needs.