Non-emergency ER visits indicate problems
ER Department

If you need to go to the ER

At a time when ER visits are at an all-time high locally, here are some tips to make your visit less stressful and more efficient:

  • Call your primary care provider before visiting the ER — there is a "doctor on call." The doctor may be able to provide information that would make a visit to the ER unnecessary.
  • Have a list of current medications, dosing and frequency with you when you come to the ER. For a convenient downloadable medication card, go to backushospital.org
  • Accompany a loved one if that person is having a hard time communicating.
  • Be prepared to answer questions about your social history as well as your family's medical history.
  • Arrange for childcare.

Backus has health centers that offer primary and urgent care in Colchester, Gales Ferry and Montville. If you sprain your ankle or think you have the flu, this might be a better option.

A patient with chronic alcoholism has visited the Backus Hospital Emergency Department about 250 times since 2001, at a cost of $215,000.

That one patient is symbolic of a growing problem in the region — an unusually high number of patients coming to hospital emergency departments in New London County for non-emergency conditions, according to the Community Health Needs Assessment.

That doesn't bode well for healthcare costs, primary care access or the overall health of the community, experts say.

Groton, New London and Norwich have been particularly hard hit by this negative trend. The number of ER visits at Backus Hospital alone has increased by 27% since 1994, with more than 50,000 visits last year.

Backus is in the midst of a multi-million expansion to double the size of its Emergency Department, but even that won't be enough to handle the patient load that could result from unhealthy lifestyles, healthcare access issues and a lack of preventative health programs in the region.

"Simply building facilities is not the long-term solution," said Robert Sidman, MD, Chief of Emergency Services at Backus. "Solving this problem will also require a fundamental shift in how patients access care, preventative health measures and a host of other factors."

Locally, a number of factors contribute to the near-crisis situation in hospital emergency departments, Dr. Sidman said. They include:

  • The growing ranks of uninsured people who have no where else to turn, so they go to the emergency room.
  • Increasing numbers of patients who have insurance, but are unable to schedule an appointment with their primary care doctor during the day because of their work schedule, or other reasons. ERs are 24/7 operations and appointments are not necessary.
  • Increasing overall population.
  • The emergence of tourism. Visitors get sick and have emergencies, too.
  • High numbers of ER visits in Norwich and New London for patients with substance abuse and/or mental health conditions.

"Ideally, these patients would be receiving treatment in outpatient settings, in their own communities, before their conditions reach the crisis point," said James O'Dea, PhD, MBA, Administrative Director of Psychiatric Services at Backus. "This would require an increase in services offered in the community, and better communication among all the stakeholders. That's where we need to be. We've made significant progress in this area, but there's still more work to be done.