The two hospitals are roughly 20 miles from one another, and 400 people a month are now making the trek from Douglas to receive care in the Brisbee hospital. That’s up from about 160 people per month prior to Cohise Regional’s closing, according to the report.
“It’s putting a strain on everyone in the system,” James Dickson, CEO of Copper Queen Community Hospital, told KVOA. “We are handling it, but it’s a stress and a strain.”
To remedy the problem, Copper Queen Community Hospital plans to build an emergency department in Douglas. The Douglas Regional Hospital Complex Emergency Department is slated to open in 2016, KVOA reported.
More articles on capacity management:
Long Island’s first off-campus, hospital-based ED set to open
NYU Langone to build $204M freestanding ED
Parkland Memorial Hospital moves to new $1.3B facility
