Reliant clinic closes; Local ERs expect to fill the void
Houston's emergency rooms are expecting to see lots of new patients now that the main clinic at the Reliant shelter has closed:
The main clinic at the Reliant shelter closed its doors on Thursday and for the first time Houston's emergency rooms will be put to the test, to see how they can handle the additional people. Already there are concerns about increased wait times for patients.
[snip]
"We all expect we will be getting lots of patients," said Dr. Joan Shook, Director of Texas Children's Hospital Emergency Center.
With the Astrodome clinic closing, emergency rooms like Texas Children's are bracing themselves.
Dr. Shook said, "We're gearing up for larger volumes. In effect, Houston has a whole new little city transplanted onto it without a whole new healthcare infrastructure, so these families will be seeking care in emergency departments."
Already, the Texas Children's ER has seen a spike in the number of patients. Typically 210 patients a day are treated in the ER. Now it's 260 a day. That can mean long, long waits.
"I think for relatively minor illness, it could be as long as 8-10 hours and not just here -- at other hospitals as well," Dr. Shook explained.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/15/05 06:48 PM | Hurricane Stuff | Technorati | Sphere | Comments (6)
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