South Charleston, W.Va.-based Thomas Health System President and CEO Dan Lauffer has proposed multiple changes to help speed up the health system's emergency room wait times. In Kanawha County ERs, wait times range from an average of one hour to four hours for ambulance-transported patients, according to a WSAZ report.
Mr. Lauffer's two main priorities include increasing staff size and educating patients about what kinds of conditions require emergency care.
"[Wait times] have been a problem in the past," Mr. Lauffer said, according to the report. "We're looking at trying to bulk up our ER staff. We have some vacancies right now we're trying to fill." He added that a majority of the patients seeking emergency treatment don't actually need such services. "We have to do a better job of telling patients, 'Really think about where you should go if you have an illness.'"
Thomas Health System plans to start educating patients during visits to help them differentiate between medical problems that require a visit to the ER and those that can be remedied with a trip to a family physician or urgent care facility, Mr. Lauffer told WSAZ.
Another element of Thomas Health System's education effort includes working to ensure patients are aware of how to access primary care physicians.