Aspirus facilities are feeling the strain of COVID-19 and other seasonal illnesses.
Vice president of operations Andrea Allard says it's all coming together at the wrong time, as added work combines with staffing shortages.
“We’ve really maintained those high volumes ever since, whether it’s patients coming to us for COVID swabbing and testing, or treatment as well.”
Allard says that means doing more with less and delaying some elective or non-emergency procedures.
“If it’s going to require an inpatient bed, because we need to make sure we can take care of COVID related patients in our hospitals.”
Allard says they're asking patients to plan ahead as much as possible when it comes to testing.
They can use either the Aspirus COVID hotline or mobile app.
“It takes you through a very quick symptom questionnaire, and then it gives you a number of different locations that you can choose to be able to self-schedule and get your COVID testing done very quickly.”
Allard adds you should never go to the emergency room for a COVID-19 test.
Instead rely on your primary care provider or another site that specializes in COVID-19 testing.
