Coshocton Regional Medical Center remains available for all medical emergencies, not just COVID-19

Ensuring safe access to emergency medical care continues to be important, even during a pandemic. Coshocton Regional Medical Center remains available to serve emergency needs for non-COVID related issues. Patients should not delay care when needed, especially for conditions where early diagnosis and treatment can be lifesaving, such as heart attack and stroke. This is a public service message to the local community and patients to continue to seek care at CRMC’s emergency room for non-COVID conditions when needed. The emergency room and physicians remain ready to care for you. There are extra protections in place for screening patients before they enter the emergency department to ensure they don’t have a fever or symptoms of COVID.

Recent trends suggest that patients are not seeking care for emergencies and delays in diagnosis are leading to poor outcomes. Stay-at-home orders issued by public health agencies make exceptions for those in need of emergency medical treatments. Signs or symptoms of medical emergencies should not be ignored. Those experiencing signs of a heart attack or stroke, such as chest pain or sudden muscle weakness, should still call 911 or visit the emergency room immediately.

“Our emergency department remains open, safe and ready to serve patients and our community, 24-hours a day, seven-days a week,” said Stephanie Conn, CEO, who added that the hospital is concerned that some people might ignore danger signs and postpone trips to the ER for fear of being exposed to the coronavirus. “We are well prepared to handle non- COVID emergencies as well as able to deal with an influx of potential COVID-19 cases, and are following all state, local and federal guidelines to safeguard our staff and other patients from exposure.”

Those experiencing mild flu-like symptoms should consult with their primary care physician or call our nurses hotline at 740-623-4019. Patients who feel they may have symptoms of COVID-19 can visit the respiratory screening center located at 406 S. 15th St. in Coshocton, Monday-Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. If symptoms worsen, however, visit the emergency room as soon as possible.

Information on the potential warning signs of a heart attack can be found here: https://www.heart.org/en/health- topics/heart-attack/warning-signs-of-a-heart-attack. For signs of a stroke, visit https://www.stroke.org/en/about- stroke/stroke-symptoms.