COVID-19 Pandemic and Mandates Causes Longer Emergency Room Wait Times

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many unwanted changes to the way things run; including wait times in emergency rooms. Now there are mandatory vaccinations set in place all across the United States. This has caused many in the health care field to quit their jobs.

In a recent visit to an Emergency Department, this reporter noticed some of these changes. The reason for the visit was because of a computer chair rolling out from under my body. This caused me to fall back into wooden clothes drying rack; then I smacked my head off of a wall and smashed my knee into the hardwood floor.

The Begining of the Emergency Department Visit

Initially, they began treating my injuries almost immediately. They performed a Computed tomography (CT) scan on my head and x-rayed my injured knee. Then they put me back into the waiting room.

Minutes ticked by to hours. One person showed up for a worker’s compensation case and they treated him immediately. This individual was walking and had no visible injuries.

Another woman was wheeled into the emergency room’s waiting area. She began to feel nauseous and needed a puke bag. The next thing people could hear was groaning and then puking. None of the emergency room workers even glanced at her or checked on her.

It took her almost 20 minutes to flag someone down to help her to the bathroom and get her a new puke bag. The only reason she even managed that feat is due to another emergency room patron going up to the front desk.

The Layout of the Emergency Department’s Waiting Area

Now is the time to explain the Emergency Department’s waiting area. It has an open floor plan with a glass wall separating the doorway out of the hospital and the front desk. Absolutely no reason any worker could not see any of the patients who may need assistance.

About an hour later an elderly gentleman was wheeled into the Emergency Department’s waiting area. Like everyone else, the elderly man was triaged immediately and then placed back into the waiting area.

Half an hour later, four individuals who had been taken out back to be seen by a doctor were discharged. Twenty minutes after that the elderly gentleman attempted to get the attention of the Emergency Department’s front desk workers. Again the same individual who assisted the vomiting women went up to the front desk to get help for the man.

Getting a Room in the Emergency Department

Finally four hours after I had been brought to the emergency room I was wheeled outback to be seen. The nurse who brought me outback looked distracted as she locked the wheels to the chair. She then told me to get out of the chair and put on the gown.

I asked why I needed to be in a gown when all that had to be done was look at my head and knee; I was wearing pants big enough to pull up over the knee cap. Her response was “It’s just our policy for the Emergency Department. So you have to.”

Painfully I managed to get out of the chair and onto the gurney; not once did she offer to assist me. I had just barely gotten the gown on when the doctor whipped open the sliding door and then knocked. The emergency room nurse pulled up the reports of my images and the emergency room doctor looked them over real quick.

He then listened to my heart and lungs. Then he asked what had happened; as I explained he examined my head, said he could not see the small cut on my ear, and looked at my elbow. Then he pushed down on my injured knee after which he twisted and pulled the sore knee. The whole ordeal took maybe 10 minutes before I was given Motrin and Tylenol and discharged.

The time was now 11 p.m. I asked them to call for a ride home; since my insurance pays for such things. It was at this time I was informed “Oh there is no way for us to get you home.” They said the COVID-19 pandemic caused taxis and Uber drivers to stop driving at night; “You’ll have to sleep in the waiting room,” the Emergency Department nurse told me.

Possible Reason Why the Emergency Department was Backlogged

Back in August, Governor Janet Mills announced that all of Maine’s health care workers must be fully vaccinated by October 1. This caused many workers to be upset; they felt it violated their rights. Many states across the U.S. placed similar mandates for their health care workers.

President Joe Biden even set COVID-19 vaccine mandates for companies employing 100 people or more.

On October 29, the Supreme Court rejected Maine health care workers’ efforts to block the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Mills’ mandate went into effect the same day.

By November 1 — the same day as my Emergency room visit — 195 health care workers left Northern Lights. This caused many patients and work to pile up; ultimately longer wait times for individuals seeking medical attention.

Opinion News by Sheena Robertson

Sources:

Portland Press Herald: Hundreds of Maine health care workers leave jobs over vaccine mandate, but most stay; by Joe Lawlor

CBS News: Supreme Court rejects Maine health care workers’ effort to block COVID-19 vaccine mandate

Top and Featured Image by Tikuko Courtesy of Wikimedia – Creative Commons License

Inset image Courtesy of oddmenout’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License