By Sarah Silvernail
While the steep reduction in patients coming to emergency departments is slowly picking up, many clinicians are still worried that people experiencing heart attacks, strokes, seizures and more emergent health issues are not getting the care they need. Across Centura, there remains a 30% decline in ER patients. This is an increase from a 50% drop at the height of the first wave of COVID-19 in March.
Centura Health-Mercy Regional Medical Center wants to remind our patients and communities that all of their health care needs, including life-threatening conditions and chronic illnesses, can be treated safely even as the fears of COVID-19 loom.
”We believe a key reason for a continued 30% decline in patients is the fear of contracting COVID-19 in a health care setting,” stated Dr. Jennifer Rupp, infectious disease physician with Mercy’s Four Corners Infectious Disease and Internal Medicine. “Throughout the pandemic people were encouraged to ‘stay at home’ which was the right message to reduce the spread of COVID-19. However, an unfortunate perception has grown that hospitals are hotbeds for exposure and contamination.” Dr. Rupp and other physicians are very concerned patients may be ignoring or dismissing their symptoms of chest pain, stroke, severe illness, or injury.”
“Whether an appendicitis or a stroke, I am worried about our communities,” explains Dr. Rupp. “I think about the patients with diabetes, heart failure, chest pain, stroke symptoms and many other issues that can cause significant and permanent damage if not treated on an emergency basis. My concern is that individuals are ignoring symptoms because they do not feel anything can be done for them in the present pandemic situation or may be concerned they could contract COVID-19 when visiting the hospital.”
When patients delay care, the likelihood of a more permanent negative outcome increases. Centura Health Emergency Departments and Urgent Care Centers are open and receiving patients. Our hospitals have implemented widely used safety measures such as screening patients for symptoms of the illness before they enter the emergency department, cleaning thoroughly and isolating anyone who shows signs of the virus, the risk is low.
The effect of people forgoing treatment could be deep and long-lasting. “You can’t reverse damage from strokes, heart attacks and even serious injuries caused by a delay in needed care,” stated Dr. Rupp. “We do want people to practice social distancing. But we don’t want people to stay at home if you’re having symptoms of a heart attack or stroke.”