COLUMBUS, Ohio — Long wait times at emergency rooms across the state are said to be due to a sharp rise in RSV infections and a steady decline in staffing.
“When you look at going back to December 2020, we've analyzed or surveyed and it looks like a little over 4,000 beds have been taken offline just because of the workforce challenges right now,” said John Palmer of the Ohio Hospital Association.
More physicians are retiring, in some cases early. This workforce challenge could be long from over.
"Right now, the projections, even five to 10 years out are pretty extreme,” said Palmer.
To help parents with exactly when a where to seek care -- new guidance will be posted to the Ohio Chapter of the Academy of Pediatrics website Tuesday.
“We want to see the kids that really need to be seen,” said Dr. Chris Peltier, a pediatrician and president of the Ohio Chapter of the Academy of Pediatrics. “But, you know, obviously always want you to follow up if things are getting worse."
It's not the first time Ohio hospitals are dealing with a strain. Ultimately, hospitals work together to make sure Ohioans have access to the help they need.
"We have a lot of experience handling a lot of this, particularly in recent years with COVID-19,” said Palmer.
A statement from Nationwide Children’s Hospital reads: “While we do provide urgent care estimated wait times on our website, emergency departments utilize a triage system to evaluate and continually reprioritize patient order based upon how ill or acute individual patients are compared to others waiting to be seen. Highest acuity patients often have no wait time. Wait times for lower acuity ED visits varies by throughout a day depending upon many other factors and can be several hours, at times. We continue to encourage families to utilize their primary care providers and urgent care sites, when appropriate.”
Wondering how to tell the difference between all the respiratory illnesses going around right now? Dr Peltier explains in this video below.