Baton Rouge urgent care centers struggle with staffing - WAFB

pentingnus.blogspot.com

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - As the fourth surge in COVID cases continues to climb, more people are looking to get tested and vaccinated.

But that also means long waits at some of the city’s urgent care centers. It’s not just hospitals that are being overwhelmed right now.

COVID is affecting several health care workers when it comes to staffing shortages and some area Urgent Care Centers are feeling that sting.

Lately, patients at Urgent Care Centers have had to wait 2-3 hours just to be seen by a doctor.

Because Urgent Care Centers are a good option for people with minor COVID symptoms who need to be seen on short notice, many local centers say they’re seeing a surge in patients.

But the small staff can only handle so many patients at once.

“There was a line almost going outside when we came in”, said one patient.

“There’s a long line if you go inside because they make you come wait in the car, you can’t sit inside”, said another.

On top of the influx of patients, several clinics have had outbreaks of the virus among their staff. Causing some to temporarily close their doors.

“We’ve had those kinds of hours; 2-3 hour waits at some of our clinics but we’re trying to get them processed as fast as possible”, said Dr. Rubin Patel.

Dr. Patel is the CEO of Patient Plus Urgent Care. He says although none of his clinics have had to shut down, they share the same struggle that others are having with their staffing. He says they’re doing what they can to get you in and out quickly.

“We’re providing lunches every day for them, so they don’t have to leave and pick up lunches. The other thing we’ve actually been able to do is we’ve actually had to shorten our hours on the weekends. We’ve been shutting down at 5:00 pm”, Dr. Patel explained.

He says for now Patient Plus is also avoiding co-pays and deductibles just to streamline the patient process. But he doesn’t see this getting better anytime soon.

“We’re getting back to our 2020 days where we were having the drive-thru clinics so there are several places in town that they’re doing the drive-through option, so I suggest that people that are having to wait 2-3 hours go to those other clinics”

So, the experts say if you need care, try your primary care doctor first if you have one. If you must use an Urgent Care Center, Dr. Patel suggests showing up early to avoid the rush. Also, to find the drive-thru COVID testing sites you can visit ldh.la.gov.

Click here to report a typo.

Copyright 2021 WAFB. All rights reserved.

Adblock test (Why?)

"urgent" - Google News
August 06, 2021 at 06:34AM
https://ift.tt/3lILNc6

Baton Rouge urgent care centers struggle with staffing - WAFB
"urgent" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2ya063o
https://ift.tt/3d7MC6X
urgent

Bagikan Berita Ini