Hilo (Hawaii) Medical Center's emergency department reported that nearly one third of emergency room visits are for nonemergency episodes of care, according to a Hawaii Tribune-Herald report.
In the past five years, 29 percent of patients treated at Hilo Medical Center's emergency department were not experiencing a health emergency, but instead seeking care for head colds and other symptoms that can be treated by primary physicians.
"We're considered a safety-net hospital, so we try to serve everyone," said Odetta Rapozo-Pung, Hilo Medical Center emergency services director. "We can't refuse service to anybody."
To reduce ER visits and make urgent care services more accessible, Hilo Medical Center is collaborating with Puna Community Medical Center in Pahoa, which is roughly 20 miles away. Under the partnership, Puna Community Medical Center plans to lease expansion space to accommodate treatment for more patients closer to home, thereby decreasing the likelihood they will travel to seek care in the Hilo ER.
The Hilo ED's "fast-track" tries to get nonemergency patients in and out fast, a service that will be important to develop during the Pahoa expansion, said Dan Brinkman, RN, regional chief executive officer of the East Hawaii Region of Hawaii Health Systems Corp.