UT School of Public Health researchers release data on Harris County emergency room crisis
| WHAT: | Researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health will present information and data on the emergency room crisis at 25 Harris County emergency centers. | |
| WHO: | Panelists will include Charles Begley, Ph.D., professor at the UT School of Public Health and director of the Houston Health Services Research Collaborative; Carol Paret, M.P.H., CEO, Memorial Hermann Community Benefit Corporation; and Ron Cookston, Ph.D., executive director of Gateway to Care. They will address the study, discuss referral programs that help patients find primary care physicians, report on primary care capacity and efforts to monitor the increases in capacity, and provide tips on when it is best to visit the emergency center. | |
| WHEN: | 11:30 a.m. Friday, April 17 | |
| WHERE: | The University of Texas School of Public Health Reuel A. Staillones Building Rooms 102B 1200 Herman Pressler |
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| WHY: | According to the Harris County Healthcare Alliance, 30.2 percent of Harris County residents are uninsured. Emergency rooms have a reputation of being overcrowded and causing patients to wait for long periods of time to be treated. The study of the emergency centers focuses on access to care by under- and uninsured persons. Study results show that 50 percent of visits to local emergency rooms were primary care-related and nearly 33 percent of those visits were by patients without insurance. | |