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PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, WA has been so inundated with patients lately that its administrators have taken to local media to urge patients to carefully assess their complaints and consider whether they really need to visit the emergency room—with a recommendation that if the answer is No, they instead head for the most convenient urgent care center or a primary care practice. A PeaceHealth emergency physician suggested that his facility and other EDs around the country are facing such challenges due to staff reductions and greater numbers of visits since restriction of pandemic-related safety measures have been relaxed.
Overwhelmed with Patients, a Health System Calls Out for Help from Urgent Care