With their ERs full, Triangle hospitals ask people to go elsewhere for COVID tests
With emergency departments once again pushed to capacity by another surge of COVID-19, the Triangle’s three hospital systems got together Thursday to make a joint plea: If it’s not an emergency, please go elsewhere.
In particular, doctors from Duke, UNC and WakeMed say patients who have only mild symptoms of COVID-19 or are simply looking to get tested for the coronavirus will be better served at urgent care centers, testing clinics or pharmacies.
‘Our big ask for the community’
WakeMed’s emergency departments have seen record numbers of patients in 5 of the past 10 days, said Dr. Chris DeRienzo, chief medical officer. About 40% of those patients were seeking help with COVID-19 or related respiratory problems, DeRienzo said, and 5% of all visitors were simply seeking a COVID test.
Like all emergency departments, WakeMed tries to give priority to the most seriously injured or ill people, who need potentially life-saving measures for heart attacks, strokes or trauma.
“Our big ask for the community is, if that’s not what you need right now, then there are many other places where you can seek care,” DeRienzo said. That way, he said, if you do need critical attention “for COVID or for anything non-COVID related, then the heroes who run our emergency departments will have the space, the people, the support and the resources needed to provide care to you as fast as possible.”
The fast-spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus has caused a spike in COVID-19 cases and demand for tests. While the variant appears to make people less sick than earlier versions, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide has tripled since mid November to 3,293 on Thursday, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Doctors at all three hospital systems say people are waiting longer in emergency departments to be seen and that those who are admitted sometimes languish for hours awaiting rooms to become available. Intensive care units are at or near capacity.
Hospitals are hampered by workers who are out, either because they’ve become infected with the coronavirus or were exposed to someone who was. Duke, UNC and WakeMed all say about 2% of their employees are out for COVID-related reasons.
“It is limiting our ability to provide all of the care we would like and to have all of the beds opened,” said Dr. Lisa Pickett, chief medical officer at Duke University Hospital in Durham.
Non-urgent procedures delayed
All three hospital systems are again putting off some non-urgent procedures to free up beds and staff for people who need them more. They’ve also again changed the way they run their emergency departments, to handle the crowds and reduce a risk of spreading the coronavirus.
WakeMed recently brought pods back to the lobbies of two of its hospital emergency departments, to provide extra space to see patients, DeRienzo said. Meanwhile, at UNC Rex hospital, someone who accompanies a patient to the emergency department will likely be asked to wait outside in their car, said Dr. Linda Butler, the hospital’s chief medical officer.
“We are trying to physically distance people as much as possible,” Butler said. “And we try and separate out people who have respiratory type symptoms from those who do not to try to protect them.”
All three doctors repeated a plea for people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and to get booster shots, if they’re eligible. A wide majority of people hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, including more than 87% of ICU patients with COVID-19 statewide, according to state Secretary of Health and Human Services Kody Kinsley.
“We cannot strongly enough encourage our community to stay healthy and be vaccinated,” said Duke’s Pickett. “And if you have mild symptoms, or just an exposure, find a testing site. If you’re having significant symptoms, we want to be ready to receive you in our emergency department.”
This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 1:38 PM.
