Having chest pains? Diabetes flaring up?

Local hospital officials are encouraging people with chronic diseases or major symptoms, even those not coronavirus related, to continue contacting their health care provider or visit the emergency room as they normally would.

“We’re afraid right now that people with significant health needs are feeling a little bit unsure about using hospitals and emergency departments,” said John Nespoli, president of St. Luke’s Carbon County campuses. “We know it’s kind of a mixed message right now with people being told to stay home. But it’s important that people don’t ignore serious conditions.”

Nespoli said the St. Luke’s Lehighton Campus has separated corridors within its emergency department and potential virus patients are not crossing paths with patients there for nonvirus treatment.

While separating patients is of the utmost importance, hospital officials added, other safeguards are also in place.

“Floors are washed constantly and everyone is wearing masks inside the hospital,” Dr. Bill Markson, St. Luke’s vice president of medical affairs, said on Monday. “In a lot of ways, it’s a relative safe haven here. Maybe even more so than going to the grocery store.”

Markson said he does worry that patients could be a little too cautious when gauging whether to be seen by a doctor or try to wait it out.

“I think at the beginning we saw a fair amount of cynicism about the virus and now it has sunk in and become real for people,” he added. “Patients now kind of have that ‘Don’t tell my daughter I’m here’ attitude like they might be mad at them for going out. But we do worry people may be putting some things off and not seeing their provider or not going to the emergency room when they should be. We just want to stress to them not to do that.”

One of the ways to check both boxes, especially for those with minor symptoms, is the increasingly popular virtual medicine option.

Markson said the St. Luke’s staff has ramped up their ability to interact with patients by phone or video.

“We’re doing a lot of better with that type of interacting,” he said. “That is another reason to not hold back on your worries or complaints, even if you’re fearful of going outside.”

St. Luke’s put up a tent outside the emergency room in Lehighton late last week in preparation for a patient surge, but has not had to use it. Markson said should the tent be used, it would be for potential coronavirus patients who are “not very ill-looking and have no fever or other major symptoms.”

“They might have some aches, but they are relatively healthy,” Markson said. “They would be seen in the tent. Then we have the more serious looking cases where someone has the fever and other symptoms. They would be in a different corridor inside the hospital. The third type of patient would be those nonvirus cases.”

Currently, Nespoli said, St. Luke’s feels good about its potential to handle the influx of patients within its current facilities at Lehighton, which has 150 beds. Using the former Palmerton Hospital if the need arises could be a possibility, he said, though there are no current plans to do that.

“We feel much better about expanding our capacity to treat patients at our Lehighton campus,” Nespoli said. “Our emergency department there has added capacity including the ability to see those with mild symptoms. We have negative pressure rooms to contain airborne contaminants within the room. We have stopped elective surgeries so our operating rooms are sitting there for use. As for as capacity goes, we feel we’re in a good place right now.”

Nonetheless, Nespoli said Carbon County Emergency Management Agency Director Mark Nalesnik has come up with several sites in the county that could work for additional capacity should hospitals fill up.