The volume of emergency room visits in San Diego County grew 40 percent from 2004 to 2014, while the county's population grew just 7 percent in that time, according to a San Diego Union-Tribune report.
To make matters worse, more than half (54 percent) of the visits were for non-emergencies, according to the report.
A variety of factors have contributed to the increase in ER visits, including people gaining insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, a lack of health literacy and a dearth of primary care physicians who accept Medi-Cal.
"We have seen, through our needs assessment process, that of those surveyed, approximately 56 percent don't know when to use an [emergency department] versus urgent care versus a clinic. Over 40 percent of those surveyed don't have a primary care physician," Dimitrios Alexiou, president of the Hospital Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties, told the Union-Tribune.
Wilma Wooten, MD, the county's public health officer, is working with hospitals in the area to get a plan together to reduce non-emergency ER visits, and doesn't believe the increased volume has affected patient safety, she told the Union-Tribune.