Winter sickness leads to capacity issues at St. Joe’s ER

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) –Different viruses and illnesses continue to spread throughout the region, making it difficult for Central New Yorkers to stay healthy. With sickness going around, a lot of hospital emergency departments say they are overwhelmed, this includes St. Joseph’s Health.

“We’re seeing a lot of Flu A this season and RSV,” said Dr. Harris Ahmed, MD, Associate Medical Director of St. Joseph’s Health Hospital Emergency Department.

The winter flu season has many people heading to St. Joe’s emergency room. The hospital says they’re seeing about 150 to 160 patients per day.

“Certain days are higher numbers compared to Mondays Tuesdays historically have been higher numbers so we go up to 180, 190 sometimes 200 as well,” said Dr. Ahmed.

Dr. Ahmed says on days when it’s cold and snowy, the emergency department’s waiting room is usually empty. But it doesn’t stay like that for long.

“As the day goes by we will get an uptick in volume because the roads will get clean and the patients who were thinking, oh we should go to the emergency department, they will come in then,” said Dr. Ahmed.

Most of the people coming in are coughing, sneezing, have body aches, and have a fever. The hospital says these patients typically end up having the flu or RSV.

These symptoms are symptoms that you should see your primary care doctor for or make a visit to urgent care.

“When we get an uptick of patients who come in who are not as sick then our other population who really needs emergency services have to wait in the waiting room to be taken care of,” said Dr. Ahmed.

According to Dr. Ahmed, this typically leads to increased wait times and exposure.

“The exposure not just patients who are waiting in the waiting room, but also the staff who’s catering to these patients. They get exposed so then we get sick, we have to stay home,” said Dr. Ahmed.

An ongoing cycle that St. Joe’s hopes will end soon, so they can focus on helping those requiring immediate medical attention.

“Anyone with chest pain, anyone who’s having difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, severe abdominal pain, numbness, weakness, concern for stroke-like symptoms. Those patients should be in the emergency department,” said Dr. Ahmed. “Having said that, the elderly population, if they have a bad fever, bad cough, they are more confused, those can be telltale signs that something bad is going on in that population, we would prefer them to come to the emergency department.”

Right now, St. Joe’s does not have any mandates in place. However, the hospital does encourage patients who are sick to wear a mask when visiting the emergency department or the hospital.

“When we do test these patients and we’re confirming them as having flu, RSV, or COVID, they’re isolated from the other patients that are in the department,” said Dr. Ahmed.

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