Page A 7
August 13. 2008
H ealth
Average Emergency Room Wait Nears 1 Hour
Demand outpaces
services available
(AP) - The average time that
hospital emergency rooms pa
tients wait to see a doctor has
grown from about 38 minutes to
almost an hour over the past de
cade, according to new federal
statistics.
The increase is due to supply
and demand, said Dr. Stephen
Pitts, the lead author of the report
by the Centers for Disease Con
trol and Prevention.
"There are more people arriv
ing at the ERs. And there are
fewer ERs," said Pitts, an associ
ate professor of emergency medi
cine at Atlanta's Emory Univer
sity.
Overall, about 119 million vis
its were made to U.S. emergency
rooms in 2(X)6. up from 90 million
in 1996 — a 32 percent increase.
M eanwhile, the number of
hospital emergency departipents
dropped to fewer than 4,600, from
nearly 4,900, according to Ameri
can Hospital Association statis
tics.
Another reason for crow d
ing is patients who are admitted
to the hospital end up w aiting in
the ER because of the limited
num ber of hospital beds, Pitts
added.
A shortage of surgical special
ists also contributes. So, too, does
the difficulty many patients have
in getting appointment to doctor's
offices — which causes some to
turn to emergency departments,
experts said.
The amount of time a patient
waited before seeing a physician
in an ER has been rising steadily,
from 38 minutes in 1997, to 47
minutes in 2(X)4, to 56 minutes in
2(X)6.
Pitts added that 56 minutes
may be the average, but it's not
typical: The average was skewed
to nearly an hour because of some
very long waits.
"Half of people had waiting
times of 31 minutes or less," Pitts
noted.
Researchers also found that
there has not been any recent
increases in the number of pa
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groups, the highest visitation
rates were for infants and elderly
people aged 75 and older.
About 40 percent of ER pa
tients had private insurance,
about 25 percent were covered
by state program s for children
and about 17 percent were cov
ered by M edicare, the report
found. About 17 percent were
uninsured.
Some doctors said the report
supports a call for increased gov
ernmental funding for hospital
emergency services.
"Millions more people each
year are seeking emergency care,
but emergency departments are
continuing toclose, often because
so much care goes uncompen
sated," Dr. Linda Lawrence, presi
dent of the American College of
Emergency Physicians, said in a
tients arriving by ambulance, or statement.
"This report is very troubling,
in the number of cases consid
because it shows that care is be
ered to be true emergencies.
Black patients visited emer ing delayed foreveryone, includ
gency departments at twice the ing people in pain and with heart
rate as whites in 2006. Among age attacks," her statement added.
■M M M M M W B
Diabetes Increases
Birth Defects
Dental Hygiene Student Helps Homeless
Took aim at
reducing health
disparities
Local dental hygiene student
Betsy Preheim has received the
Anthony W estw ater Jong M e
m o ria l C o m m u n ity D e n ta l
Health Award for spearheading
a dental health day for hom e
less men.
Preheim , who attends Clark
College in V ancouver, orga
nized com m unity partners in
cluding local dentists and hy
gien ists. the Free C lin ic of
S o u th w est W ash in g to n , the
Clark County Public Health de-
Nursing
Home
Advocates
Sought
Volunteer advocates and in
vestigators are needed to serve
as ombudsmen for residents of
nursing homes, residential care
facilities, assisted living facilities
and adult foster care homes.
The Oregon O ffice o f the
Long Term Care Ombudsman
will train the volunteers on the
aging process, com m unication
skills, problem -solving skills,
investigation and other o m
budsman skills. The certifica
tion training will begin on Fri
day, Sept. 12, in Portland.
Ombudsmen volunteers work
to improve the quality of resi
dents’ lives, by identifying and
investigating complaints and con
cerns on behalf of the residents,
then working with the facilities to
make changes. The typical con
cerns cover a broad range, and
often include resident care: resi
dents' rights, such as privacy,
respect and dignity; and quality
of life concerns such as appropri
ate activities and meals.
“The volunteers make a tre-
mendousdifference in the livesof
the re s id e n ts ," says K athy
Walter, program administrator.
“They are well prepared and ef
fective.”
Another training session for
volunteers interested in serving
asfriendly visitors will be offered
on Sept. 28.
\dvertise withdiveisitv in
l.lnrtlaith O&fr-rnu'r
C all 5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 3 3
; k Is («’ port I andob serverei >nt
Betsy Preheim
p a rtm e n t an d th e K a ise r
Perm anente Dental Care Pro
gram for the event last spring.
T heir com bined efforts pro
duced more than $20,000 worth
of free dental services.
"B e tsy 's p ro je c t d e m o n
strated a true dedication to com
munity service,” said M elody
Scheer, oral health coordinator
at Clark County Public Health.
Scheer, who served as in
structor for the Clark College
class that organized the project,
added, "Based on the outstand
ing response, she already has
great ideas about how to make
this event even more success
ful next year."
Preheim said she chose the
project because of her belief in
the im portance o f reducing
h e a lth
d is p a r itie s
fo r
underserved populations. “Pm
happy that we could help these
men, who had extremely limited
access to dental c a re ,” said
Preheim. “For some, the relief
from oral pain finally allowed
them to eat a meal com fortably.
Others were happy at being able
to sm ile w ithout em barrass
m ent.”
Clark College President Rob
ert K. Knight said, “W e’re so
proud that Betsy has received
this distinguished award. Betsy
exemplifies the talent of our den
tal hygiene students and our
college-w ide com m itm ent to
service learning - learning that
makes a difference in our com
munity.”
(AP) -- Diabetic women
who get pregnant are three
to four times more likely to
have a child with birth de
fects than other w om en,
according to new govern
ment research.
The study provides the
most detailed information to
date on types of birth defects
that befall the infants o f dia
betic mothers, including heart
defects, missing kidneys and
spine deformities.
The study lists nearly 40
types o f birth defects found
to be significantly more com
mon in the infants o f diabetic
mothers than in those who
weren’t diabeticor who were
diagnosed with diabetes af
ter they became pregnant.
Birth defects affect one in
33 babies bom in the United
States, and cause about one
in five infant deaths. The
cause of most birth defects
isn’t known but some risk
factors include obesity, alco
hol, smoking and infections.
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