For the Tomahawk Leader
WISCONSIN – The Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) recently joined hospitals across the state in urging members of the public not to seek COVID-19 tests at hospital emergency rooms.
“Emergency rooms throughout the state are under extreme stress due to surging COVID-19 cases as well as regular, seasonal increases in demand for medical services,” WHA stated in a release. “Patients seeking COVID-19 tests at hospitals not only delay the provision of urgent care in emergency rooms, but also raise the risk of virus spread among medically vulnerable patients.”
WHA said that to serve the high volume of patients in Wisconsin hospitals requiring care for strokes, heart attacks, motor vehicle accidents and other ailments, as well as to provide relief to health care workers, WHA is asking that Wisconsinites get COVID-19 tests through means advised by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS).
Those means include contacting your doctor to ask if your primary care clinic provides testing; seeking testing from a free community testing site near you; and requesting a free at home collection kit from DHS.
Learn more about where to get a COVID-19 test in Wisconsin by visiting www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/testing.htm or by calling 2-1-1.
About WHA
The Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) advocates on behalf of its 130-plus member hospitals and health systems to enable the delivery of high-quality, high-value care to the citizens of Wisconsin.
Learn more at www.wha.org.