Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/633321
JANUARY 27 - FEBRUARY 2, 2016 UCW 11 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM NEWS The one-word motto for one of America's great home grown cor- porations was "Think." IBM used the slogan for many years in its heyday. "It's hard work for people to think," said IBM founder Thomas J. Watson. "All of the problems of the world could be settled easily if men were only willing to think." IBM has continued to evolve successfully since its inception. Watson's idea can be applied to all walks of life. Many would sug- gest the U.S. Congress would be a good place to start. Certainly one's selection of healthcare options is another. Take sickness and personal injury. There are lots of options, but many local people think of only one when they need care…Cape Fear Valley Medical Center's Emergency Department. More than 130,000 people were seen at Cape Fear Valley's Emergency De- partment during Fiscal Year 2015, a lot of them all at the same time, day after day, according to Medical Center Spokesperson Janet Conway. " It's a bit of a quandary," Conway said. Cape Fear Valley's Emergency Department is the busiest in North Carolina, she says, and in the top 20 in America. Each Monday and Tuesday morning of late, patient services work- ers advise the dozens of people awaiting care in the crowded emergency room they'll have to be patient because all 92 emergency beds are full, as are the 600-plus in-patient beds. If people would think about it, Conway says, they have many choices to seek non-life threatening medical care. They can spend 12 hours on a typical Monday or Tuesday waiting for care at the medical center, or four hours at another hospital; even less time than that at an urgent care center. Conway says any hospital's emergency department should be thought of as the place to go for the most serious medical needs…heart attack, compound fracture or head trauma. In short, if you have chest pains, go to the emergency department. If you sprain an ankle, go to one of the three Cape Fear Valley Express Care Centers or any of the dozen other urgent care centers in the area. If you believe you'd be better off at a hospital, "Hoke Hospital on US-401, south of Fayetteville, is closer than Cape Fear Valley for folks living in southwest Cumberland County," according to Conway. Moore Regional Hospital's Hoke County Campus is three miles south of that, a bit closer to Raeford. Both have 24/7 emergency departments. On the north side, Central Harnett Hospital in Lillington is as close as Cape Fear Valley, adds Conway, as is Betsy Johnson Hospital in nearby Dunn. Where do you live? Do you really need to go to the emergency department… if so, which is closest? Also, Womack Army Medical Center on Fort Bragg has a 24/7 emergency department available to military men and women and their dependents. And the VA Medical Center hopes to reopen its emegency department soon. In the meantime, a 24/7 urgent care facility is in op- eration there. Emergency Department vs. Urgent Care: Where Do You Go? by JEFF THOMPSON JEFF THOMPSON, Senior News Reporter. COMMENTS? news@upandcomingweekly. com. 910.484.6200. Book by William F. Brown Music & Lyrics by Charlie Smalls Directed by Donna Bradby C A P E F E A R R E G I O N A L T H E A T R E JAN –FEB , Ease on down the road to For Tickets: 910-323-4233 or visit www.CFRT.org Invest In Advertising Opportunities We can show you how to market your business! 910.484.6200 www.upandcomingweekly.com