Whatever fear the outbreak of Ebola has caused in Dallas, it apparently had little effect on the largest emergency rooms.
Nor does the decision by Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas to temporarily divert patients who arrive by ambulance from the Presbyterian emergency room seem to have caused an uptick at other hospitals. Presbyterian is where the first Ebola case in this country was diagnosed.
At Parkland Memorial Hospital, one of the most active ER facilities in the state, the number of visitors in the first 16 days of October — the period after the first case of Ebola was diagnosed — dropped from the number who visited during the last 16 days in September.
There were 9,750 visits to Parkland ER in the first half of this month, compared with 10,403 visits in the second half of last month, said Parkland spokeswoman Catherine Bradley.
The four hospitals in the Methodist system had a 14 percent uptick in the first half of October from the same period last year. But Robin Daniels, system spokeswoman, was reluctant to attribute the increase to Ebola fears.
“While Ebola concerns may have contributed to volume increases, the opening of the new Methodist Richardson Medical Center and a new emergency room in the Charles A. Sammons Tower at Methodist Dallas Medical Center have also played a factor in being able to care for more patients,” she said.
Pam Tate, spokeswoman for Medical City Dallas, did not have exact figures. “While our hospital is busy, this is typical for this time of year,” when cooler weather brings in people with viruses that aren’t life-threatening, she said.
Julie Smith, spokeswoman for Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, had a similar response: There were no exact figures, but any increase was more likely due to seasonal factors. “We are as busy as we have historically been this time of year,” she said.
