Now that our communities are slowly reopening, hospitals are urging patients to continue to seek care if a health emergency occurs.
While Los Alamitos Medical Center never stopped treating emergency cases, many residents chose to defer emergencies during the crisis, rather than have them treated, said Chief Operating Officer Hong Min.
“We don’t want people pushing back their medical emergencies, as this can have dire consequences,” said Min. As the coronavirus crisis eases, he said the hospital is reaching out to the community to let them know emergency and serious medical surgeries should be treated, he added.
According to Min, Los Al Medical had carefully prepared for a large influx of COVID-19 cases.
Min said the administration met with the hospital’s medical committee to develop a safe pathway for treating emergencies in the community. “We are in lockstep with medical staff and physicians,” said Min.
The situation during the crisis at Los Alamitos Medical has been different than other hospitals around the nation, said Min. Most notably, there has not been a large influx of patients as seen in other parts of the country, nor has the hospital suffered any shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE).
As always, he said any potential COVID cases will be isolated from other patients, said Min, noting the hospital is keeping all patients, and its staff, safe.
“We’re reaching out to let people know it is safe to come in for emergency treatment,” said Min.
Morale at the hospital has been incredibly positive, said Min, even though it has been a “hard time to be in healthcare.”
“We’ve seen a tremendous show of support from the community, including donations of face shields, food donations, thank you cards, photos, etc. “Those things do matter,” said Min.
Editor’s note: Hong Min’s name appeared incorrectly in last week’s edition. We regret the error.
