By Gene Zaleski
The Times and Democrat
ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. — MUSC Health-Orangeburg officials say they’re continuing their efforts to improve the experience of patients. Two Orangeburg County Council members are asking the hospital to look at emergency room wait times.
Councilwoman Deloris Frazier and Councilman Joseph Garvin said they have heard complaints from constituents about emergency room wait times.
“You really need work on that,” Frazier said at a council meeting last month. “We are still having problems with people saying they went to the hospital at 2:15 p.m. and didn’t get out until 1 or 2 a.m. the next morning. Some people have said to me they have waited at the hospital over eight and ten hours to be seen.”
“Let’s try and find some way that we can get people in, let them be seen and let them go on to their business or admit them,” Frazier continued.
The Medical University of South Carolina acquired the former Regional Medical Center of Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties almost two years ago.
Frazier said she recently went to the Orangeburg hospital for outpatient surgery and had a great experience.
She was out in about 30 minutes. Her main concern was with the emergency room times.
Garvin echoed Frazier’s comments, expressing concerns about long emergency room wait times of seven and eight hours.
“This is the biggest complaint we have,” Garvin said. “This is something that has to be taken care of.”
MUSC Health -Orangeburg Chief Executive Officer Walter Bennett III said the emergency department is a “key focus of ours because it is a front door of our facility.”
“For MUSC as a whole, all of our EDs are the front door of our facilities,” he said. “It is actually considered a major opportunity for improvement for all of our facilities because we know we can do better when it comes to wait times and also ensuring they can get adequate care and timely care when they go through our ER.”
Bennett said winter months are difficult because a lot of people use the emergency room when they should go to urgent care or primary care, but the hospital is seeking ways to reduce the wait time.
Hospital Chief Nursing Officer Christina Walker said she has visited MUSC’s other hospitals to see what they have implemented that works.
Walker said one of the ways the hospital will be seeking to reduce wait times is to introduce telehealth in the emergency room.
“If our providers in the back are busy taking care of somebody that came in on an ambulance and we have people in the waiting area, we are actually going to have a tele-doc who is going to be able to bring those patients back and do a virtual screening and start the process of ordering the medications to kind of help to speed up that process,” Walker said. “We are at capacity. It does kind of have a little back up in our emergency room.”
Walker also said the hospital will ensure nurses are in the emergency room lobby to keep patients up-to-date on their waiting process.
“It is one thing if you are having to wait and you know why you are waiting. It is more frustrating if you don’t,” Walker said.
Prior to answering questions from council, Bennett gave a presentation noting “patient experience” has been a focus at the hospital.
“I always tell each and every one of our care members at MUSC Health-Orangeburg that we are always going to make the first impression the best impression,” Bennett said.
During the presentation, Bennett also said the hospital is trying to enhance its image, noting that the joke is that the former TRMC stood for “Turn Right and Make it to Columbia or Charleston.”
“That is no longer the case. We have great care here in Orangeburg,” Bennett said. “When it comes to leakage, we are definitely keeping our patients in the area because the MUSC brand is a great brand.”
Following the questions and response, Orangeburg County Council Chairman Johnnie Wright said, “I know you can’t snap your fingers and everything happens, but if you can improve it, that is a big deal right there.
“I have confidence that you all will do that.”
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