Patients Flood E. Valley Hospitals: Surge of Sick Forces Mesa Emergency Room to Close

By Hayley Ringle, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz., The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz.

Jan. 2–Flulike illness ushered 2006 into the East Valley with a wallop, as patients waited two to four hours New Year’s Day for medical care in Scottsdale emergency rooms.

Flu and pneumonia cases were so high in east Mesa that Banner Baywood Medical Center closed its emergency department for three hours. Paramedics from the Mesa Fire Department assessed potential patients in the street, referring them to other hospitals as Baywood surged to capacity.

“This flu is just killing us,” said Baywood public relations director Coiya Lynne.

The emergency room at Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn hospital had a two- to fourhour wait throughout the past week, said Keith Jones, media relations manager.

“We’ve been seeing around 200 patients a day for the past week, which is somewhat higher than normal,” said Jones, adding the hospital normally would see 150 patients a day in the emergency room.

Many incoming patients had respiratory problems, flulike symptoms and colds, which is the “same thing we see this time of the year every year,” Jones said.

Scottsdale Healthcare Shea hospital had similar patient numbers and wait times, Jones said.

Banner Baywood closed its emergency room to any new patients Sunday after a record-breaking number of patients needed emergency attention, most with the flu or pneumonia.

The medical center’s emergency department closed at 11:30 a.m. after more than 90 patients needed immediate attention. Fifty still needed to be seen when the department closed, and another 43 patients were waiting for beds. The department was reopened about 2:30 p.m., Lynne said.

Officials did not know how many patients may have been turned away when Baywood closed for three hours. The medical center partnered with the fire department to help potential patients requiring emergency treatment and to offer suggestions on where else to go.

Bill J. Schellhas of Mesa brought his father, Bill D. Schellhas to Baywood at 11 a.m., just before the emergency department was temporarily closed. His father has lupus and emphysema, and probably has pneumonia, his son said. The two were still waiting for lab results and a bed at 6 p.m.

Baywood has been in crisis intervention mode since Wednesday because of the increased number of patients. The medical center’s endoscopy, pain and recovery units had been temporarily turned into inpatient units, which provided an additional 12 beds and enabled the center to treat people who would otherwise have to wait longer to be admitted, Lynne said.

The medical center was also postponing elective and nonemergency surgeries and discharging patients who were ready to go home, she said.

Deb Krmpotic, Baywood’s chief nursing officer, said taking in more sick people than the hospital can handle is “kind of dangerous.”"We’re putting patients at risk if we’re taking in more than we can serve,” she said.

To help avoid trips to the hospital, she suggests sick people see their primary physician early to ward off pneumonia. She also said sick people should stay at home to avoid making others sick.

Although this is the time of year people generally get sick, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified Arizona as having “widespread” influenza, with nearly 1,000 labconfirmed cases statewide.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz.

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