Effective, Thursday, January 13, 2022, hospitals across Northwest Indiana have collaborated and will no longer go on bypass until otherwise indicated. Bypass, sometimes referred to as diversion, occurs when hospitals reach capacity, prompting Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to take patients to alternative facilities.
The hospitals of Community Healthcare System, Franciscan Health, Methodist Hospitals and Northwest Health are joining forces to create processes to ensure residents of our community have access to emergency services.
This move is in response to the chronic high-volume conditions emergency rooms are experiencing across the nation, including Northwest Indiana. The unprecedented number of COVID-19 cases requiring emergency care exacerbates this situation. The decision is supported by the Indiana Department of Health and the Indiana Hospital Association.
“The Indiana Hospital Association applauds the cooperation among Northwest Indiana hospitals to work together for the benefit of the community,” said Brian Tabor, president of the organization. “Indiana hospitals are overwhelmed with the highest number of patients on record and have reached a state of crisis with dwindling capacity left to care for patients. Our emergency departments are seeing 8,500-10,000 visits per day, and at any given point there are several hundred patients boarding in emergency departments around the state awaiting open beds.”
To reduce the strain on our healthcare workers, our hospitals need the community to help by not visiting emergency departments for COVID-19 testing. If you are seeking testing for COVID-19, please visit one of the numerous immediate care centers or testing sites throughout Northwest Indiana, coronavirus.in.gov/covid-19-testing-information/. Doing this allows our emergency medical staff to care for our most vulnerable patients.
We also stand united in urging the community to be vaccinated and boosted against this disease.
