The below article appeared on the website of a local news station in Rock Hill SC. Some people in the community have varied opinions about this. For those of us "in the business", what do you think about this kind of policy? Do you think it will actually make a difference or is it just bad public relations or giving people a mixed message about a hospital's concern for it's community? What if a patient has no insurance and can't afford a doctor's office visit, where do they go? What do you think?
Local Hospital's New Policy Of Turning Patients Away Upsets Some
Posted: 6:28 pm EDT May 12, 2009
ROCK HILL, S.C. --
Diana Burgess of Rock Hill went to the emergency room at Piedmont Medical Center last month with severe pain in her side."The doctors came in and just basically said they weren't going to do anything for me," she said. The ER doctors determined that the pain Burgess was suffering was not an emergency and didn't require immediate care. President and CEO of Piedmont Medical Center Charlie Miller explained the policy this way: "it is an emergency room, not a primary care clinic." "We think it's had a positive impact on wait times," Miller said. "Two-hundred to 250 people a month are leaving to see their primary care doctor instead." Hospital officials also said patient care is better when they can see a doctor outside of the hospital and form a relationship, rather than using the emergency room as their doctor. However, people like Burgess, who doesn't have any health insurance, said she can't afford to see a regular doctor. "I just left there crying," she said. "I was hurting too. I was really feeling bad. "Miller said the hospital does what is required by law, which means doing a medical screening for every person who comes into the ER. Then doctors determine if their condition requires immediate emergency care.
