Every single year, Wilson Medical Center cares for more than 46,000 patients who rely on our hospital emergency room to step in and offer rapid stabilization and compassionate treatment. To put that into perspective, 46,000 is nearly equal to the entire population of the city of Wilson. The sheer volume of emergency room visits we experience represents a high number when compared to similar geographies across North Carolina, signaling both the immense trust placed in our facility and the complex realities facing rural healthcare today.
In communities like ours, the emergency room is not merely a place where acute injuries and sudden illnesses are treated. Beneath the surface lies a heavy burden that most cannot see from outside the four walls of the ER. Community hospital emergency rooms are increasingly called upon to serve as a safety net when patients cannot gain timely access to a primary care physician or when a chronic health condition becomes unmanageable at home. In these moments, our highly trained emergency room physicians and advanced providers must take on the role of care coordinator alongside their duty as acute care providers.
On average, 18.5% of patients who present to the Wilson Medical Center emergency room are making multiple visits for chronic or recurring illnesses, with a significant proportion of our overall patient population lacking an assigned primary care provider. This is not an anomaly unique to Wilson; it reflects a systemic challenge felt across our entire state. Research consistently shows that rural Medicare beneficiaries in North Carolina face a higher likelihood of visiting an emergency department for ambulatory care sensitive conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease compared to their urban peers. When primary care gaps exist, the emergency room naturally becomes the default front door for chronic disease management.
Additionally, the number of cases presenting to our emergency room that require extensive social services and complex care coordination to ensure a safe discharge is steadily on the rise. This trend is accelerating across North Carolina, where underlying social determinants of health such as housing instability, food insecurity, lack of transportation and shortages in behavioral health re
Statewide, emergency departments are seeing an unsustainable surge in individuals presenting with non-medical crisis needs or psychiatric conditions, with mental health-related ER visits climbing drastically and patients often waiting hours or days for appropriate post-discharge placement due to a lack of local community infrastructure
At Wilson Medical Center, we refuse to accept the status quo. We want to destroy complacency and cultivate creativity and are actively working to redesign how emergency care is delivered in North Carolina
Our vision involves two parallel, interconnected efforts:
1. Partnering across the community: We are expanding relationships with local agencies and public health organizations to tackle the social determinants of health directly, ensuring our patients have support beyond our physical doors
2. Restructuring the emergency care pathway: We are overhauling our clinical workflows so that acute care needs are met faster and more efficiently, while simultaneously redesigning care delivery for those who seek the ER as a safe haven
Transforming an emergency department model does not happen overnight, nor does it happen in isolation. It requires comprehensive, intentional coordination with our local community partners. This redesigned care structure incorporates industry best practices to streamline operations, cut down wait times and elevate overall quality, while still preserving the compassionate capacity needed to manage complex, chronically ill patients who would otherwise struggle with care coordination
The emergency room is truly the front door of our hospital. It is a place where we care for every single person who walks through our doors, regardless of their background or ability to pay. Above all, it is a place where our team strives every day to be the best part of a patient’s worst day
The days ahead will bring a redesigned, stronger Wilson Medical Center, one built to serve, support and uplift Wilson County for generations to come
Jason L. Kimbrell, who has a Doctor of Science in health services administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is the CEO of Wilson Medical Center
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