Doctors at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth say some patients are spending hours in the waiting room.
The hospital sent out a notice at the end of August advising patients of long wait times because of a surge in parents seeking routine COVID-19 tests for their kids, and doctors say the situation has not changed much in the past three weeks.
"Wait times in the ER can be anywhere from 8 to 12 hours, so please allow us some time," said ER Dr. Daniel Guzman, "We have to take care of kids that are really sick on the front end, but we'll definitely get to you."
Hospital officials are urging parents to avoid the emergency room for routine COVID-19 testing or if their kids only have mild COVID symptoms.
"Definitely if your child is running a fever for more than a week, they're not drinking fluids, they're not urinating or they're having difficulty breathing - we want to see them in the emergency room as quickly as possible," Dr. Guzman said.
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