Virginia hospital, healthcare leaders issue plea about hospital emergency room trips

Worried about increasingly burdened hospital emergency departments throughout Virginia, state health and hospital leaders are taking the unusual step of urging people not to check themselves into a hospital unless absolutely necessary.

In a joint statement Thursday, officials from the Virginia Department of Health and the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association implored people with non-serious illnesses or those with asymptomatic or mild cases of COVID-19 not to go to the hospital for treatment.

“Hospitals across Virginia have recently experienced an influx of patients seeking emergency department care for asymptomatic or relatively mild COVID-19 infections, as well as cases of the flu or other seasonal illness,” they wrote. “In many cases, a hospital emergency department is not the appropriate venue for patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms to seek medical care. Most individuals who contract COVID-19 do not need to visit the hospital’s emergency department and can effectively recover from their illness at home, or by seeking primary care treatment and/or speaking with their primary care provider.”

The quick spread of the new Omicron variant of the virus has quickly increased the number of patients making what officials termed “unnecessary” trips to hospital emergency rooms.

“People with severe COVID-19 symptoms such as significant difficulty breathing, intense chest pain, severe weakness, or an elevated temperature that persists for days unabated are among those who should consider seeking emergency medical care for their condition,” they wrote. “Individuals should not visit the emergency department if the symptoms of their illness are mild to moderate – including a cough, sore throat, runny nose, or body aches – or simply for the purpose of having a COVID-19 test administered and should instead consult an outpatient primary care provider.

“Unnecessary visits to hospital emergency departments place great strain on hospitals and the frontline healthcare workers who continue to bravely battle the pandemic. Such visits can also cause a delay in care for patients experiencing a true medical crisis and contribute to the depletion of finite resources including medical staff, testing kits, personal protective equipment, and therapeutic treatments.”

Henrico reported its second consecutive day with more than 600 new cases Thursday (601), a first during the pandemic, and is now averaging nearly 440 new daily cases during the past week, according to Virginia Department of Health data.

But the county has witnessed only seven new hospitalizations and four new deaths related to the virus in that same time, though both metrics typically lag days or weeks behind rising case counts.

Officials are hopeful, though, that because the Omicron variant appears to produce less severe outcomes in most people, those totals will remain low even in light of the exploding case counts (which also don’t take into consideration the thousands of at-home testing encounters – and likely thousands of additional COVID cases – that aren’t part of the VDH’s database).

“More than 15,000 Virginians have died from COVID-19 during the course of this pandemic, and thousands have been hospitalized,” said State Health Commissioner M. Norman Oliver. “The best defense against serious illness and hospitalization from COVID-19 is to get vaccinated. If you have not gotten vaccinated or boosted and are eligible, please do so now. Do it for yourself, your family, and your community, including the health care workers we depend on to be there when we truly need emergency care.”

“Virginia’s caregivers have worked nonstop to serve their communities throughout this pandemic. They are feeling the strain of yet another surge and are looking to the community for support,” said Steve Arner, the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Carilion Clinic and the chair of the VHHA Board of Directors. “It’s crucial for community members to seek the appropriate level of care, ensuring that emergency rooms are reserved for emergencies.  Of course, the best support that you can give is to get vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19.”

Health officials believe the Omicron surge – the fifth COVID surge since the pandemic began – may not reach its peak for several more weeks. As a result, they wrote, the health care system hasn’t yet felt the virus’s full impact.

Daily hospitalizations in the state have jumped from 922 Dec. 1 to 2,101 Thursday, though officials said that current levels still are lower than they were at their peak last year at this time. Their data shows that most COVID patients currently hospitalized are unvaccinated.

To find vaccination opportunities, visit vaccinate.virginia.gov, call 1-877-VAX-IN-VA, or visit vaccines.gov.