ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —With more people insured under the Affordable Care Act, citizens might find it harder to get in to see their doctor -- and that has more people making a visit to the emergency room.
“Over the last two years, we've seen significant increase in volume,” said Michael Disney, physician medical director at Lovelace Women’s Hospital.
According to a spokesperson, Lovelace hospitals saw about 16,000 more patients in their emergency rooms last year compared with 2014. Presbyterian’s numbers spiked by 13,000 patients, according to its spokesperson.
“Our wait times initially have gone up, but we are increasing our staffing and working on handling that additional patient load,” said Disney.
Wait times at Lovelace Women’s are back down to about 30 minutes, about the same as the year before. Presbyterian said its wait times increased from an average of 57 minutes to 75 minutes.
University of New Mexico Hospital did not respond to a request for its emergency room visits or wait times.
Disney said there are certain things that always warrant a trip to the ER, including chest pain, shortness of breath, heavy bleeding, and stroke symptoms such as numbness, tingling and slurred speech. But in other cases, people may be better off going to a regular doctor or urgent care.
When it comes to children, people should do everything they can to go to their pediatrician first, but if that’s not possible, the ER may have to be a last resort.
“When they're conditions that are worrisome to the parents, they should not hesitate to bring their child to the emergency room to be evaluated,” said Disney.
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