Dispatch: Ohio's ERs see rise in patients; uninsured have nowhere else to turn, experts say

Columbus Dispatch, January 7, 2008

By Suzanne Hoholik
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Emergency-room visits across the state continue to rise, with the largest increase among the uninsured.

From 2003 to 2006, uninsured patients seeking emergency care increased by nearly 20 percent, the Ohio Hospital Association says. In the same period, emergency-room use by all patients increased by about 9.5 percent.

Why the continued increase? In part because a growing number of people don't have insurance or access to a family doctor.

About 46.5 million Americans are uninsured, including about 1.2 million Ohioans.

"The emergency department is their safety net for care," said Marci Ladue, a nurse and director of emergency trauma and ambulatory services at Mount Carmel West hospital.

"People who don't get routine care from a primary care provider and put off treatment, when they go to an emergency department, they're very, very sick."

Last year, the Mount Carmel West emergency department had 61,325 visits, a 16 percent increase from 2003.

Most other central Ohio hospitals have seen the same.

Last year, Mount Carmel East and Riverside Methodist hospitals recorded about 90,000 emergency department visits, an increase of more than 20 percent for both hospitals from 2003.

More than 71,000 children were taken to Nationwide Children's Hospital in 2006, up 8 percent from 2003.

Ohio State University Medical Center had nearly 61,000 patients go to its emergency department last year, up 8 percent from 2005.

If uninsured patients don't pay for emergency care, someone else will.

"It's not a secret that hospitals need to maintain a decent bottom line to stay in business," said Tiffany Himmelreich, spokeswoman for the hospital association.

"Unpaid care could (result in) an increase in costs for people with insurance."

Something has to change, said Cathy Levine, executive director of Universal Health Care Action Network of Ohio, a patient-advocacy group.

She said state leaders need to come up with a plan. "What we're doing now isn't working."

shoholik@dispatch.com