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Originally Posted by TraceyMooreRN
So what is acceptable time frame to wait in an ER? For those who use it as an Urgent Care facility (no matter their cause--insurance, no insurance). I believe the national average to be 8-10 hours?-Not sure on my numbers. Pile all the "snowbirds" into a community hospital for non-emergencies--you get a CLINIC. Really sick people waiting hours-due to others making a choice to come to an ER for non-emergencies. I wish all insurance companies would say--go to urgent care, if you go to an ER and deemed not emergency, you should have to pay out of pocket. IMO
I know for a fact--Leesburg has 11 hour waits as well. All ER wait times are hit and miss.
The less peak hours in most ERs are 3am-6am---just a scenario. You can always call ahead and check what the wait times are approximately.
I hope that in the future (maybe 10 years) but in the future--we will get approved for a larger hospital near Brownwood. TVRH does not have pediatrics-doesn't mean they can't treat pediatrics. They have to transfer the sickest children out to Leesburg or Ocala. They don't have neurosurgeon most of the time. They don't offer critical heart cases-(bypass surgery). TVRH is not a trauma center. If we could build what Leesburg has at Brownwood...offering a two door emergency room. One will be CLINIC patients other EMERGENCY patients (those who anticipate admission).
 Also- please remember do not use up resources like EMS to provide you transportation unless you are having an emergency. Sad- that some people still think that is going to help? Or would even consider this... Most ERs have Triage in the back and in the front. In other words--calling EMS to transport you because you think you will see a doctor sooner--is a BIG MISTAKE and frowned upon wasting resources that could actually save a life. Taking up the closest ambulance to give you a "ride" for a faster triage infuriates medical care providers. It should also infuriate the other citizens in our community. Waste of a great resource for true emergencies. While one ambulance is taking your 4 day headache to the ER--someone in respiratory arrest now has an ambulance that takes 10 minutes longer because the closest one is out on a "Taxi Ride" 
If you come to the ER and leave--regardless of the wait time--It was not an emergency. There were other alternatives that you choose not to take, but came to the ER.  |
My husband was still hospitalized last year over the Easter weekend. Guess what? The ER was virtually deserted every time I passed by. Come Monday...overflowing again. "Emergencies" take holidays, too?
Your thought of having non-emergency being taken care of through the urgent cares by insurance is right on. It would definitely cost less all around and free up ER's for the emergencies. (Also, the lady at the hospital when I called about this discussion, said that those on Medicaid and those with no insurance at all have to pay at the urgent care so they come to the ER.) It will also take urgent care facilities to take up longer hours. Maybe it should be a requirement that they be manned from 6 in the morning to midnight, at least in order to be licensed.
Something that many don't realize, either, is that when a nurse's shift is say 6-12, that does not mean that nurse gets to walk out the door at 12:00 or come scootin' in at 6:00 to get started. (I'm sure you can attest to that, Tracy.) So before anyone starts complaining to or about nurses not doing enough, think about that. They have to give a report to the oncoming nurse about each patient that she/he has been responsible for during the shift, then finish up all the paperwork before leaving. And, if they are attending to one of those patients at 12:00, they don't just quit right in the middle of what they are doing. They finish and then do all the other stuff they have to do just to get to leave. That goes for all areas of the hospital.
I, for one, am eternally grateful for all the devoted men and women who serve us in this or any other medical community. Thank you!