Q&A
Factors contributing to increased patient volume at H+H hospitals
1:47:55
·
117 sec
Council Member Narcisse and Dr. Birnbaum discuss the factors leading to increased patient volumes at H+H hospitals. Dr. Birnbaum explains that emergency departments have seen rising numbers of both high acuity and lower acuity patients since 2020.
- Increase in both high acuity (most complex) and lower acuity patients
- Difficulty in accessing primary care contributes to ED visits for less urgent problems
- Patients view EDs as always available for immediate care
Mercedes Narcisse
1:47:55
Okay.
1:47:56
Now let's focus on h and h.
1:47:59
Increased patient volume.
1:48:01
Right?
1:48:02
We note in our committed report that there has been an increase in visits to emergency rooms.
1:48:08
And that hospital in Brooklyn and the Bronx experienced record patient's volumes in the past year.
1:48:15
These additional patient numbers driven in part by the needs of an aging population, the ongoing opioid crisis, the limited access to primary and urgent care services.
1:48:28
Could you please elaborate on any other factors?
1:48:31
To have led to increased patient volume at HNH hospitals and health centers and whether the primary reasons for hospital visit vary by birth.
1:48:44
It's a long, too long, to answer.
Adrienne Birnbaum
1:48:49
Thank you for that question.
1:48:50
Yes, it is indeed true that we have had increasing volumes at all of our health and hospital facilities in the emergency departments increasing since 2020 to the present time.
1:49:04
That's inclusive of the most acute types of patients that we see, but also inclusive of lower acuity patients.
1:49:13
So we're both seeing a higher volume of high acuity patients and most complex, but also seeing, as was mentioned before, increases in the number of patients that come to our emergency departments with less acute, so nonurgent and less urgent problems, partly related to the difficulty in accessing primary care.
1:49:38
And I think patients view us as knowing that we are always there 247 and is a place where they can get, you know, media care when they need it.
1:49:48
So we've really had increases in volumes across all the levels of acuity.
