Athens County experiences a higher number of emergency room visits than other counties, said a health care official at yesterday's Athens County Commissioners meeting.
Maggie Neely, managing director of health and wellness programs with the County Commissioners Association of Ohio, reported that the amount of emergency room visits in Athens County is about 65 percent higher than the insurance group's overall average.
We highly recommend that you curb your emergency room usage
Neely said.
Neely said that emergency room visits are more expensive than other forms of health care and noted that some of the ER visits could have been resolved through other, less expensive health care alternatives.
We do see people going with problems that should be handled in another environment she said.
Neely mentioned sinus infections and sore throats as causes for some reported ER visits.
Despite the high number of ER visits, Neely said that Athens is headed in the right direction with the health care consortium. She also expressed her satisfaction with citizens taking preemptive health care action.
I applaud the women of Athens County she said.
More than 50 percent of women in the program received preventative care exams, but only one quarter of men in the target age group for certain illnesses sought preventative care.
When the group meets to discuss rate changes in health coverage this Friday, Neely said that Athens can anticipate lower rate increases on its coverage.
Kate McGuckin from My Sister's Place, a safe house for victims of domestic violence, also reported at the meeting yesterday.
After the commissioners declared October Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Athens, McGuckin spoke of the high volume of cases handled at My Sister's Place.
The phone rings all day long and all night long
she said.
Twenty-one women and 26 children were denied a place to stay in fiscal year 2008 because of a lack of beds at the shelter. The shelter works to help victims who cannot stay in the house through outreach programs that provide counseling and safety options that don't include shelter, McGuckin said.
The shelter has 10 beds for domestic abuse victims and handles patients on a day-to-day basis without reserving spaces, she said.
In addition to these issues, the commissioners also discussed the future of funding a study to see how public land can be used to grow food in the county and the possibility of establishing spay and neuter coupons for dogs at the Athens County Dog Shelter.
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John Parsons
