By BRIAN TABOR
Indiana Hospital Association
Indiana hospitals are overwhelmed with the highest number of patients on record and have reached a state of crisis with dwindling capacity left to care for patients. Our emergency departments are seeing 8,500 to 10,000 visits per day, and at any given point there are several hundred patients boarding in emergency departments around the state awaiting open beds.
Unfortunately, this can sometimes lead to diversion, which is a nonbinding request for EMS to seek alternative care sites if patient conditions allow. Diversion does not mean that you should not go to the emergency room if you need emergency-level care. Hospitals are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and treat every patient who walks through our doors.
However, we need your help – we ask that you do not go to the emergency room simply to receive a COVID-19 test. Hospitals are required by law to conduct medical screens for every patient that walks into the emergency room. Consequently, individuals seeking COVID-19 testing in the emergency room take much-needed staff and resources away from those in need of emergency medical care during this surge.
Please seek testing at primary care sites including physician offices and urgent care centers when possible and consider using telehealth for non-emergency treatment. With current case rates and positivity, it is expected that hospital patient volumes will continue to climb for the next couple of weeks and Indiana will pass the state’s all-time high of COVID-19 hospitalizations this week. We need your help now more than ever to manage through this.
Various COVID-19 testing sites exist in counties across Indiana and can be found at coronavirus.in.gov/covid-19-testing-information.
About the Indiana Hospital Association
The Indiana Hospital Association serves as the professional trade association for more than 170 acute care, critical access, behavioral health, and other specialized hospitals in Indiana. IHA advocates on behalf of its members in Indiana’s General Assembly, U.S. Congress, and with multiple regulatory agencies at the state and federal levels. Dedicated to improving quality, patient safety, and Hoosiers’ health status, IHA holds numerous grants and facilitates collaboration among hospitals to improve outcomes. IHA also provides members with the data analytics that they need to ensure access to quality, cost-effective health care services across the state of Indiana. To learn more about IHA, visit IHAconnect.org.