Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Kaleida Health has established a corporate command center in light of the strike at Mercy Hospital. Kaleida says it anticpates a continued increase in emergency room volumes, wait times and stress on bed availability.
"We have been monitoring the Mercy Hospital strike situation very closely for the past 48 hours and we have responded accordingly as we continue to see additional patient volumes here," said Michael P. Hughes, senior vice president and chief administrative officer for Kaleida Health. "As far as impact, in the past 24 hours alone we have seen an increase in labor & delivery cases at Oishei Children's Hospital as well as cardiac & stroke cases at the Gates Vascular Institute. Ambulance traffic at Buffalo General Medical Center, for example, was extremely high Thursday and is expected to increase even more today. ER volumes are up the past two days but remain manageable – for the time being - at Buffalo General Medical Center, Oishei Children's Hospital, Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital and DeGraff Medical Park." Hughes says the organization will balance patient loads between all of its facilities (Buffalo General Medical Center, Oishei Children's Hospital, Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, DeGraff Medical Park) as well as ECMC when needed. He says this is similiar to what happened during the COVID19 pandemic and during previous snowstorms.
Hughes says Kaleida Health emergency rooms (Buffalo General Medical Center, Oishei Children's Hospital, Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, DeGraff Medical Park) and its partner ECMC remain safe, open and ready to treat emergency patients. He urges those experiencing critical medical issues like chest pain, stroke symptoms, abdominal pain, injuries, among others, to not delay care.
