(Montclair, Calif., April 16, 2020) – Ensuring safe access to emergency medical care continues to be important, even during a pandemic. Prime hospitals are available to serve emergency needs for both COVID and non-COVID-related issues. Patients should not delay care when needed, especially for conditions where early diagnosis and treatment can be lifesaving, such as heart attack and stroke. This is a public service message to communities and patients to continue to seek care in your local emergency room for non-COVID conditions when needed and our emergency rooms and physicians remain ready to care for you.
Recent trends suggest that patients are not seeking care for emergencies and delays in diagnosis are leading to poor outcomes. Stay-at-home orders issued by public health agencies make exceptions for those in need of emergency medical treatments. Signs or symptoms of medical emergencies should not be ignored. Those experiencing signs of a heart attack or strokes, such as chest pain or sudden muscle weakness, should still call 911 or visit the emergency room immediately.
“Our Emergency Department remains open, safe, and ready to serve patients and our community, 24-hours a day, 7-days a week,” said Gail Aviado, Administrator and Chief Nursing Officer of Montclair Hospital Medical Center, who added that the hospital is concerned that some people might ignore danger signs and postpone trips to the ER for fear of being exposed to the coronavirus. “We are well prepared to handle non-COVID emergencies as well as able to deal with an influx of potential COVID-19 cases, and are following all state, local, and federal guidelines to safeguard our staff and other patients from exposure.”
Montclair Hospital Medical Center is prepared for today, preparing for tomorrow, and sharing information to keep our patients and caregivers safe. The hospital is nationally recognized for several awards for its services including HealthGrades Excellence Award since 2016, Nation’s Top 100 Hospitals, Geriatric Emergency Department from the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Heart Failure Silver Plus Quality Achievement Award, and was also recognized on the association’s Target: Heart FailureSM Honor Roll. Furthermore, extra protections have been put in place for screening patients before they enter the ER, to ensure they don’t have a fever, or symptoms of COVID in an effort to expedite treatment of care.
Those experiencing mild flu-like symptoms should consult with their primary care physician while taking precautions to self-isolate and limit contact with family members while at home. If symptoms worsen, however – including a consistent cough and fever — visit an emergency room as soon as possible.
Information on the potential warning signs of a heart attack can be found here: https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/heart-attack/warning-signs-of-a-heart-attack. For signs of a stroke, visit https://www.stroke.org/en/about-stroke/stroke-symptoms.
About Montclair Hospital Medical Center
Montclair Hospital Medical Center, a not-for-profit member of Prime Healthcare Foundation, was originally founded by a group of community physicians in 1973. Montclair Hospital, a 106-bed acute care hospital, received the 100 Top Hospitals in the nation award from IBM Watson Health, the Patient Safety Excellence award by Healthgrades®, and the Women’s Choice Award® for America’s Best Emergency Care. For more information visit www.montclair-hospital.org
About Prime Healthcare
Founded in 2001, Prime Healthcare has emerged as one of the nation’s leading hospital systems. Prime Healthcare was founded by Dr. Prem Reddy, a physician with a mission to save hospitals, improve community healthcare and provide the very best care to patients.
Our philosophy is that all healthcare is local. Each of our hospitals serves the unique needs of their communities while providing exceptional care with the strength and support of Prime Healthcare. Through a physician-directed and patient-centered model, passionate dedication to quality, evidence-based best practices, operational efficiency, technology, and capital investment, our hospitals are recognized among the best in the nation. Prime Healthcare was recognized by Truven Health Analytics as a Top 10 and 15 Health System in the nation three times.