Utah Doctors Concerned Over Drop In ER Visits

BOUNTIFUL, Utah – There’s a major medical concern from some Utah hospitals that people are waiting too long to get critical care.

As a result, many patients are coming into emergency rooms in worse conditions, which is putting their life more at risk.

“The hardest part is we are seeing a lot of patients come in a lot sicker because they are waiting to come in,” said Marilyn Mariani, chief nursing officer at Bountiful’s Lakeview Hospital. “I think there is a lot of fear out there [about the virus].”

Corey Welker, 66, who came to Lakeview Hospital as a result of double kidney failure, admitted he may have waited a little too long to come in.

“I put it off for a while because I didn’t want to overwhelm the system,” he said.  “But I figured me standing up and seeing stars almost fainting — it’s time to go.”

Welker was recovering Tuesday but said if he would have waited longer, he believes he would be in critical condition right now.

“They would have taken me to a different part of the hospital,” he said.

Lakeview Hospital is part of the MountainStar health care system, which runs 11 hospitals.

Mariani said those hospitals were seeing about a 30 percent drop in ER visits — something she has never seen in her 30 years of nursing.

“You know that people are out there still getting hurt. You know that people still have the same things. Why are we not seeing them in our ER? And that is what is scary to me,” she said.  “You are putting your life on the line when you don’t come in and you need medical care. I would tell you, you are much safer in a hospital than going to a grocery store.”

This critical issue is why the Utah Hospital Association was sending out a word of warning.

“(It’s) vital, vital that people go to the hospital with suspicion of a stroke or a heart attack. We are seeing some tragedies in those regards,” said Greg Bell, president of the Utah Hospital Association.

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Additional Resources

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