By Sahar Chmais
The novel coronavirus has affected the health industries in more ways than those it physically infects. According to a poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 48% of Americans claim they or someone in their household has delayed or skipped medical care during the pandemic. Hays County is not exempt from this reaction.
Within the same poll, it showed that 11% of those who delayed seeking medical attention had worsened symptoms. At Ascension Seton Hays, according to the Emergency Department, visits were down by 34% from April through June. Although the hospital has seen some increase over the last several months, they are still below pre-pandemic volumes by 20%. Skipping medical visits can cause long-term complications that could be avoided. The earlier a person deals with their medical condition, the more likely it will be treated.
Doctors are worried about their patients’ health and want to encourage patients to come into the hospital when necessary, especially if they experience symptoms such as trouble breathing, difficulty speaking, chest pain, confusion, sudden dizziness, severe abdominal pain, extreme fatigue, drooping of one side of the face, sudden numbness in one or more limbs, blue lips or pale face coloring.
“Although COVID-19 is still in our communities,” said Dr. Hayden Dietz, ED Medical Director at Ascension Seton Hays, “we understand that individuals in our local communities have emergency and healthcare needs outside of COVID-19, many of which cannot be delayed or deferred without serious health risks.”
Dietz worries that when patients skip hospital visits, their recovery period can be prolonged. Sometimes, a patient will visit their physician with chest pain under the impression that it’s acid reflux, when it could be some type of heart failure symptoms that down the line may lead to a heart attack. She wants patients to avoid these future complications by being proactive about their health.
Self-care is important in the process, so there is nothing more important than doctors and a medical team being there for a patient when necessary, Dietz said.
But people fear going into a hospital because of COVID-19; they do not want to be in the epicenter of the virus.
To order to help people with their concerns and to avoid any COVID-19 infections, Ascension Seton Hays has put in place carefully thought out safety measures.
The process begins before patients walk into the hospital, where if someone needs a mask, they are handed one. The hospital gives a COVID-19 screening; patients who are suspected to have the virus will wait in one side of the emergency room and those who are not suspect to have it wait in a separate room.
Visitors are restricted, a measure the hospital has taken to stop the spread as best as it can.
Staff members wear surgical masks as well as some type of eye protection. Dietz joked, saying “we look a little different nowadays.”
Once inside the hospital, all patients get a COVID-19 PCR test, where labs can generate the result in an hour or so. The Rapid PCR tests are primarily for patients who require a procedure or if they are suspected to have coronavirus. These patients are the ones who receive results within an hour.
Those who experience minor symptoms, perhaps a stomach ache, Dietz said, will get a test but it will not be rapid. This test will take a few hours before the result comes back.
“To protect against the transmission of COVID-19, we act like everybody has it, all day every day,” Dietz told the Hays Free Press/News-Dispatch. “Since this began, we found that has been a saving grace for our team.”
COVID-19 care can be very taxing on a person’s mentality. For example, Dietz said she sees people who are incredibly anxious and think they have COVID-19 when they experience any potential symptom.
On the flip side, when some patients are offered the test, they do not want to know the result.
“Maybe they are afraid to be stigmatized,” Dietz said. “But that is not the case. It is a novel virus for a reason. We are here to provide peace of mind.”
Since the coronavirus is not the only disease or illness going around, people should continue seeing their medical providers.
For those who are experiencing ailments but do not want to visit the hospital or a doctor’s office, Dietz suggests that they contact their physicians to do a telehealth conference.
Still, she emphasized that patients who feel any of the aforementioned symptoms should seek immediate medical attention.
She also suggests that doctors and physicians should let their patients know about all of the different modalities of communication.
“The face of medicine is going to be different going forward,” Dietz said. “I know change is hard, but that’s where we’re going.”
