MOULTRIE — Colquitt Regional Medical Center officials say too many people are using the emergency room as their primary care center — that a majority of the visits are not true emergencies, tendencies that are amplified during tight economic times.

Beginning this month, non-emergent visitors to Colquitt Regional Medical Center’s emergency room will be asked to present evidence of third-party coverage or the ability to pay. They will also be directed to much less expensive facilities to receive treatment. This is one of several cost-saving measures the hospital is implementing, CRMC officials said Thursday.

The average cost of an emergency room visit is $550, according to Dena Zinker, director of CRMC’s emergency department, while a visit to a primary care physician might cost $60.

It should come as no surprise to anyone who has recently visited an emergency room that it is a very busy place where people sometimes wait hours to be treated and released. That’s because most of those who visit the emergency room don’t really need to be there, CRMC officials said. Last year, Colquitt Regional’s emergency room treated 23,800 cases.

“In many cases, people who come to the ER are sick people, no doubt about it,” said Dr. Dale McGregor of Colquitt Regional Medical Center’s emergency department. “Some just have colds and others may even need to be seen by a doctor, but they don’t belong here because they are not truly emergency cases. They’re using this facility as their primary care facility and that’s not what we do.”

Patients who come to Colquitt Regional’s emergency room are put through a five-level triage process to determine the seriousness of their illness with Levels 4 and 5 being non-emergent cases. McGregor said he conservatively estimates that more than half are Level 4 or 5 who should not be in the emergency room.

“It’s a real education issue,” McGregor said, “to teach people when they should or shouldn’t come to the emergency room.”

McGregor said there are a number of issues that are contributing to emergency room overcrowding.

“Sometimes if folks are low on funds they come here because they think they will not have to pay,” he said. “They come here for toothaches or because they are out of their blood pressure medication. Sometimes they have dealt with pain for days and then just decide at two in the morning that now is the time.”

Zinker said some people even come to the emergency room to receive return-to-work excuses.

“We call it the $500 work note,” she said.

Colquitt Regional President and CEO Jim Lowry told employees on Tuesday of other actions CRMC is taking to keep the hospital viable and stable and to preserve the jobs of its employees.

Lowry said the first phase of the hospital’s plan was implemented after a meeting in September with CRMC department heads who were asked to freeze all positions, postpone expenditures for new equipment and construction projects and implement tight controls on operating expenses.

“We have developed a proactive financial plan that will assure CRMC of continued viability and success in meeting our strategic growth plan for the next five years,” Lowry said. “The first priority of this plan was that no employee at CRMC would lose his or her job due to the national financial crisis.”

Lowry told department heads this week that to further assure that the hospital fulfills its objective beginning in January 2009 all merit pay increases will be deferred until the end of the year. Lowry said the hospital will accrue for 2009 merit raises as they come due and will pay the raises in a lump sum at the end of the year “if it is financially prudent at that time.”

“The actions taken by our department heads and employees have already begun to yield positive results in the first two months of our fiscal year,” Lowry said. “However, there is still a lot of uncertainty in the future so we want to continue to be diligent in our efforts to reduce costs.”

Lowry said CRMC’s 2009 financial stability plan also includes initiatives to reduce the amount of uncompensated services it renders. In addition to the changes in the emergency department, patients who come to the hospital for elective diagnostic procedures or elective surgery will also be required to demonstrate an ability to pay for the services.

“We are spending considerable effort to eliminate cash drains to CRMC that could cause us to undergo financial difficulty,” Lowry said.

“Please understand, CRMC is a very viable and stable hospital,” Lowry told employees. “You should not perceive this action as an act of desperation; but an act of accepted prudent management, protecting your long-term relations with the hospital, your benefits and your retirement plans.”

Colquitt County Hospital Authority Chairman Brooks Sheldon believes the steps being taken to adjust to the slowing economy will better position the hospital for growth in the future.

“I am very grateful for the cooperative spirit of the staff and administration of Colquitt Regional in implementing measures to keep our hospital viable during these difficult times,” Sheldon said. “Their efforts will help assure us that when the economy emerges from these times our hospital will be in position to continue making progress in medical care through physician recruitment, the purchase of the latest equipment, and expansion of the facilities.”