A trip to the emergency room has become a little more crowded for Miss-Lou residents, hospital officials said.

Metro Ambulance Manager Jim Graves said his company felt the impact of high emergency room volumes from the two Natchez hospitals.

“If I had to guess, probably an average of two to three times a week we have to divert because one of the ERs is full,” Graves said.

Both emergency rooms are full about three or four times a month, he said.

“When that happens, we’ll rotate between the two ERs,” Graves said. “They’re not turning anybody away by any means.”

Both Natchez Community Hospital and Natchez Regional Medical Center have busy emergency rooms, officials said.

Natchez Community Hospital has seen a 14 percent increase in emergency room visits for January and February compared to last year, CEO Tim Trottier said.

Although it is hard to compare this year’s numbers with last year’s because of the lasting impact of Hurricane Katrina, visits are still up, he said.

“We’ve seen strong growth almost across the board,” Trottier said. “We’ve put a lot of focus on our emergency room. We consider our emergency room to be the front door of our hospital.”

And although they are seeing more patients, they are seeing them faster, he said. A new way of processing patients has helped speed things along.

Based on certain symptoms, tests are ordered before a patient sees a doctor.

That eliminates several hours of waiting, Trottier said.

“That’s why we’re able to have a length of stay that’s well below the national average,” he said.

The number of ER visits can reflect the financial health of the area, too, he said.

“I think to some degree, hospitals are indicators for the local economy,” he said. “I have some sense our economy is increasing nicely, based upon the volume we see here and what I hear from our doctors.”

Natchez Regional Medical Center has seen a consistent flow through its emergency room, too, CEO Jeff Wesselman said.

“Our volume has been pretty consistent over the past year,” he said.

“We have around 1,400 (patients) a month. We had a couple months where we were extremely busy (after Katrina). After a two-month period, we got back to business as normal.”

The consistent volume of patients in emergency rooms, as well as after hours clinics in Natchez and Vidalia, shows there is a need for more doctors in the Miss-Lou, Wesselman said.

“There’s definitely a need for emergency services in Adams County, and we’re happy to provide that service,” he said.

To help add some breathing room, NRMC officials plan to absorb some offices currently used as a neurologist’s office into the emergency room facilities, Wesselman said.

“When we have the new facility at the Doctor’s Pavilion, (the neurologist) will move in there,” Wesselman said.

“Where he is was emergency space before and will become so again.”