Polk County Medical Coordination Center Media Release: Polk County Hospitals STILL Operating at Limited Capacity

June 10, 2022

(Des Moines, IA) – Polk County hospitals are STILL currently operating at limited capacity. Emergency departments are seeing incredibly long waits for individuals to receive care and then be placed in an appropriate inpatient bed if needed. Hospital and healthcare staff ask Polk County residents to use emergency departments appropriately.

Each hospital, emergency department, urgent cares and clinics strive to provide the best care possible for the community. However, each hospital and healthcare system are dealing with:

• High demand for hospital beds
• Staffing shortages
• Increase of summer illnesses and injuries
• Caring for very sick individuals that have longer hospitalizations

In the case of a life or limb-threatening emergency, do not hesitate to go to the emergency room or call 911. For those who are sick or injured but not in a life or limb threatening situation, we encourage you utilize the services of your primary healthcare provider, urgent care or virtual care. Urgent care can be used for situations where you feel terrible or are in pain. This may be a situation where waiting several days to see your healthcare provider isn’t appropriate and your health issues need immediate attention. There are several urgent care clinics in our community that offer night and weekend hours.

We also encourage our community to reach out to their primary healthcare provider if the individual is experiencing common illnesses or injuries, needing medication management or preventative care. Your primary healthcare provider is the point person for your overall health and the starting point for your medical care. Your primary healthcare provider’s knowledge of your health history makes them best suited to get you the care you need.

Our hospitals and clinics encourage members of our community to continue to follow safe health practices to mitigate the stresses on our health care systems, including receiving vaccines and boosters against COVID-19.

The hospitals and healthcare systems in Polk County are committed to the safety of our patients, visitors, colleagues, physicians and communities. We continually work to ensure we can provide the care you need.

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