The PNJ reports more on the Baptist-West Florida Hospital union today. The big question is what will happen to the ER patients. Sacred Heart is concerned that their packed ER will be inundated with patients that once would have gone to the Baptist.
Baptist counters that the patients will either use their Urgent Care Center or go to ERs at the West Florida and Gulf Breeze locations. They believe ER patients will follow their doctors to those hospitals. They say only about 2,000 will end up at Sacred Heart.
Last year, during Access Escambia campaign, we were told majority of the patients in the ER don’t have doctors so how can they follow their doctors to West Florida if they have no doctors?
How will the poor patients get to West Florida and Gulf Breeze ER’s? There aren’t any bus routes from District 3 to either location. Will there be a new EMS protocol to take ambulances to those locations and bypass Sacred Heart?
IF the Urgent Care Center at Baptist absorbs 100% of the non-critical patients, i.e. those who don’t need hospital care, where does a hospital like Sacred Heart – that is at capacity – put the critical patients? It’s primary mission is women and children.
I support the Baptist purchase of West Florida Hospital, but we need to really think about the ER situation and how the poor people of District 3 will be taken care of.