Crowded ERs create long waits for patients. Here's how South Shore Hospital is coping

WEYMOUTH − Managing crowds has become an emergency at local hospitals, including South Shore Hospital in Weymouth.

"We don't love putting patients in hallways, but if we have to to see volume, we absolutely will," said South Shore Hospital emergency room doctor Kelly Lannutti.

She said visits to the ER increased 20% from last spring to this spring, WCVB reported.

"It feels that way to the patients and it feels that way to the staff," Lannutti said. "I think we're at the center of a lot of things that have happened."

Those events include the closures of Norwood Hospital and Quincy Medical Center in 2020, the shutdown of Brockton Hospital after a recent fire, and Quincy-based Compass Medical suddenly filing for bankruptcy in May.

Lannutti said she and her colleagues see patients walking in with minor complaints. Tick bites, a rash and even a sprain are typically low on the triage list.

More: The state lifts its COVID emergency mandate: What is the South Shore doing?

"At peak times, we're looking at waits of five, six, seven hours potentially for something that's really non-acute when you could be in and out of an urgent care center in 45 minutes or less," she said.

There are many urgent care centers in the state. In fact, the number has surged from 15 licensed sites in 2010 to at least 173 today.

Local hospitals, including South Shore, operate some of them.

A recent state report found that urgent care centers in Massachusetts could have safely treated 27% of people who went to emergency rooms.

List: When to call doctor, go to urgent care or emergency room

Poison ivy, sunburns, ear infections and food poisoning are some of the most common complaints right now.

An urgent care is not the proper place for people experiencing chest pain, trouble breathing, trouble speaking, severe abdominal pain or allergic reactions, and head injuries where there's a loss of consciousness. Those patients should go directly to the ER.

"We want to make sure that patients are receiving the right care at the right place," Lannutti said. "And so South Shore is really invested in doing as much as possible and assuring that patients know all of the different options out there."

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Go to urgent care if the issue is minor, South Shore ER doctor advises