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Online ER Check-In Means Faster Wait Times At SW General Hospital

Southwest General Hospital

Patients needing emergency room care with conditions that are not life threatening can now check in online at Southwest General Hospital. If the emergency is life-threatening, the patient will still need to rush to a hospital.

Southwest General Marketing Director Elizabeth Luna said a patients with lesser but still urgent needs would likely be placed in line at the hospital, but instead can wait at home instead of in a chair in the hospital waiting room.

“Say you’re at the soccer game with your child and he may have broken his ankle. Well, that’s an emergency room situation so you would want to bring your child in for treatment. But if you’d rather wait at home and have your child comfortable in hidsbed with his ankle propped up, you can do that, too,” said Luna.

Luna also said SW General Hospital has an iPhone app that can access the hospital wait times even more quickly.

Luna cautions patients that anyone with a life- or limb-threatening situation should call 9-1-1 or go to the nearest hospital for immediate care.

Eileen Pace is a veteran radio and print journalist with a long history of investigative and feature reporting in San Antonio and Houston, earning more than 50 awards for investigative reporting, documentaries, long-form series, features, sports stories, outstanding anchoring and best use of sound.