Akron Councilwoman Tara Mosley-Samples and a Summa Akron City Hospital Emergency Room nurse share their concerns over patient wait times and care at Summa's Akron emergency room.
The Summa Akron City Hospital ER nurse, who wanted to remain anonymous, told News 5 she's concerned about patient safety since Summa switched ER doctors from Summa Emergency Associates to U.S. Acute Care Solutions at the beginning of the year.
"They are not getting the attention necessary, and we are very concerned for their safety," said the nurse.
"There are times when we go to the doctor and notify them three or four times that this patient needs to seen immediately and that is not happening."
Councilwoman Mosely-Samples told News 5 she had to wait 6 hours to get service for her mother at the Summa Akron ER several weeks ago.
Mosely-Samples said he counted 33 people in the waiting room that day, some patients waited even longer than 6 hours. She said some patients even waited on the floor.
"There was an individual who was laying on the floor on a pillow with a blanket over them," said Mosely-Samples.
The councilwoman said she's received numerous complaints from patients, nurses, doctors, and maintenance staff.
In response, Mosley-Samples said she met with Summa's Chief Medical Officer, David E. Custodio, MD, MBA and a group of other top Summa leaders to discuss concerns over ER wait times.
Mosley-Samples said she'll meet with former Summa ER doctors on Feb. 24, and hopes to meet with Summa board members sometime next week.
Summa responded to News 5 and said operations and patient volume at its emergency department are normal.
Summa issued the following statement:
"Patient care is our top priority and we take the input of our clinical team very seriously. To that end, we formed several weeks ago a committee comprised of nurses, doctors and administrators to discuss and address any opportunities for improvement in our ED.
Our clinicians are aware of this committee and we encourage them to bring any concerns forward so they can be reviewed and, if necessary, addressed."
Meanwhile, Mosely-Samples is hoping Summa will consider bringing back some of the ER doctors with Summa Emergency Associates to help with ER performance at the Akron facility.
