Wesley Healthcare officials are concerned that people in the Wichita area are delaying treatment for medical issues because of a fear of COVID-19.   This has been a trend reported around the country.

Wesley’s chief medical officer, Dr. Lowell Ebersole, said people are coming to the hospital much sicker, and they’re staying longer, and that’s because they are delaying care. He said there have been fewer coronavirus patients in the hospital in the past few weeks, and fewer than ten patients have been in the intensive care unit.  Dr. Ebersole said over 3,000 employees have been vaccinated for COVID-19, and none of them have contracted the virus after receiving the vaccine.    He said Wesley remains committed focused on keeping staff, patients and visitors safe, and the hospital continues to screen visitors as they enter the building.   He said Wesley remains a safe place to seek care.

Dr. Wassim Shaheen, an interventional cardiologist at Wesley, said people with symptoms of a heart attack should call 911 and get care immediately.    He said the likelihood of survival is less if medical treatment is delayed.    Dr. Mohammed Hussain, an endovascular neurointerventionalist with Wesley’s stroke program, said people should recognize the symptoms of a stroke and they should not hesitate to seek care if they have those symptoms.    The symptoms can include dizziness or loss of balance, blurred vision, facial distortions, slurred speech or a weakness in their arms.   Dr. Hussain said a delay in getting care can be catastrophic because every second or minute lost can led to millions of brain cells dying.

Dr. Quoc Truong, a medical oncologist with the Cancer Center of Kansas, said delays can also be harmful if people delay screening procedures that could detect cancer.   He said more people are being diagnosed at an advanced stage, and detection at an earlier stage can make a cure more possible.   He is also calling on cancer patients to get the COVID-19 vaccine, because they can be at a high risk from the virus.

Dr. Ebersole said people should get the COVID-19 vaccine that they can first have access to.   He said all of the vaccines currently available will prevent hospitalizations and deaths from the virus.