Wesley Medical Center Starts "Flu Care"

September 16, 2009

By Michael Schwanke (WICHITA, Kan.)

The last place Wanda Cook wants to be is the emergency room.

"I'm fearful of things I touch and things I'm around. It's scary when you have what I have," says Cook.

Cook has a rare lung disease and came to the emergency room with flu like symptoms.

"It scares me."

But Wesley Medical Center is trying a new approach in how it handles flu patients to keep people like Cook away from others.

"Really, the worst place to be is in the hospital or doctor's office unless you need to be," says Dr. Mark Mosley.

He and his team are starting what's called "Flu Care".

If a patient has flu like symptoms, the goal is to move them through quickly and keep them away from others.

"It will be a fast way to see people with flu like symptoms, but more importantly it will be a way to get people who have the flu away from those who may have immune problems," says Dr. Mosley.

He estimates one in every four patients who come into the emergency room have flu like symptoms.

"If you're otherwise healthy and have symptoms the CDC is recommending no one be tested or treated other than what your grandmother would have done with Tylenol and chicken soup. Stay in bed and don't shake hands," says Dr. Mosley.

People with chronic conditions, pregnant women, young children and the elderly are considered high risk and should see a doctor right away.

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