Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008

3 Valley counties have highest ER visit rates

Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Fresno have the highest emergency room visits per capita among urban counties in California, according to a study released Tuesday.

Hospital emergency rooms in those counties receive large numbers of patients with medical conditions that can be treated in a doctors office or clinic, says the Public Policy Institute study "Emergency Department Care in California: Who Uses It and Why?" The study sheds light on the troubling health care issues in the San Joaquin Valley, where counties suffer from high unemployment, fewer doctors and a large percentage of residents who are uninsured.

About 30 percent of the state's most crowded emergency rooms are in the valley.

"We weren't surprised at this data," said Steve Mitchell, chief operating officer for Memorial Medical Center in Modesto. "Our emergency room volume is up 10 percent in 2008 without a commensurate increase in population." A spokesman for Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock said emergency rooms are a 24-hour source of medical care for people who don't have a doctor or can't get an appointment.

"We have a lack of primary care physicians," said John Gilbert. "When you don't have primary care physicians, often people have to go to the emergency room for care."