AUSTIN, TX (August 30, 2021) – Amid the worst wave of COVID-19 to date, Texas Freestanding ERs are proving an essential front-line resource for an overwhelmed healthcare system by holding and caring for patients for whom no hospital beds are available. Hospitals across the state are grappling with a lack of ICU bed availability, and Freestanding ERs are consequently taking in patients who would otherwise end up lining hospital hallways, waiting rooms and, in some cases, parking lots. “For us, this is the worst surge since COVID has started,” said Dr. Robert Velarde of Altus Baytown. “It’s hectic. It’s tiring. It’s stressful. Due to a lack of hospital beds.” Freestanding ERs, like hospital ERs, are designed to triage, stabilize and when necessary, prepare patients for transfer to the Intensive Care Unit or surgery to receive additional care not provided in the emergency room.
Read the full press release from the Texas Association of Freestanding Emergency Centers on their website: https://tafec.memberclicks.net/assets/docs/8.30.21TAFEC%20PRNewswire%20Release.pdf
