Wednesday, May 22, 2002
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Wednesday, May 22, 2002 |
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For little emergencies, use Fayette's 'little' ER Finding ourselves in a real emergency recently in the doctor's office at Fayette Medical Clinic [in Fayetteville], we had to rush my husband across the way to the Fayette Community Hospital Minor Emergency Room. They acted swiftly, competently and professionally to meet my husband's immediate needs. When we arrived by ambulance at the "big" hospital, the waiting room was out the door. People were everywhere, in the waiting room, inside the ER lined up in chairs, and my husband spent many hours on a gurney in front of the nurse's station. The staff ... like most hospitals, triage patients and take them in order of medical emergency rather than time of arrival. This can sometimes be frustrating when you feel that you or your loved one [has] more [urgent needs] than the one sitting next to you but he gets to go in first. While sitting at the admitting desk to fill out necessary paperwork to get my husband admitted, I just wanted to stand up and shout, "Hey, there is a big empty room just waiting to be filled with sick folks at the satellite ER down the way." I could tell that some people were in real distress and needed emergency aid, while there were others who, although in need of medical attention, could have benefited greatly by going to the other smaller facility. If you have a life-threatening illness or accident, by all means go straight to the emergency room at the "big" hospital; but if you have a minor malady, ailment, or injury, and it is between the hours of 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. ... you would be doing yourself a favor by trying out the new satellite minor emergency room located at 105 Yorktown Dr. For when you have a real life-threatening situation, the hospital, doctors and staff might not be overwhelmed while the other minor emergency sits empty. Patricia D. Walston Fayetteville
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