Rise in ER visits

HOLYOKE, Mass (WWLP) - If you've had to pay a visit to the Emergency room lately you may have noticed the long wait times and a good number of people sitting there with you. Karen Brown of West Springfield says she dreads going to the emergency room because of the long wait times. And other residents told 22 news visiting the ER can be a real pain.

The number of people visiting hospital emergency rooms in the Commonwealth is on the rise and so is the cost of treating them. The director of the emergency room at Holyoke Medical center told 22 news they have seen a 10 percent increase in volume since last year.

Yet there has been efforts to direct patients with no urgent problems to primary care doctors instead. From 2005 to 2007 the estimated cost of treating ER patients in Massachusetts grew by nearly 100 million dollars. Some policy makers are saying there needs to be more primary care doctors and nurses in order to help reduce the number of emergency room visits. The director of the ER at Holyoke Medical Center says people with non urgent cases tend to come to the ER so they don’t have to wait days or weeks to see their primary care doctors.