Local

‘They had no beds for me’: Woman says she had to wait 6 hours to see doctor

CHARLOTTE — Renee Wilcox has been in a wheelchair for the last 21 years because of a brain virus. She’s paralyzed on one side of her body and has documented her journey with photographs.

When she fell out of the wheelchair and hit her head on Wednesday, she called 911.

Paramedics rushed Wilcox to Atrium’s Mercy Hospital in Charlotte’s Elizabeth neighborhood. She said she chose the facility because it’s hardly ever busy.

“They said they had no beds for me,” Wilcox told Channel 9.

She spoke to reporter Anthony Kustura by phone from inside the hospital after waiting six hours to see a doctor. She said the emergency department is overrun with people looking for COVID-19 tests and those with minor symptoms.

It’s a warning we’ve heard about for weeks from local hospital systems, including Atrium Health earlier this week.

“If you don’t need the level of care provided by a setting -- whether that’s emergency room, urgent care -- please, please let those spaces be used for people that are more severely ill,” said Atrium’s Enterprise Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Katie Passaretti.

With no beds available, Wilcox said she waited in the lobby, unable to move because her wheelchair was at home.

“They just threw me in the corner and just sat me there to wait,” she told Channel 9.

Wilcox said she just wanted to go home but claims she had to see a doctor in order to be released from the hospital. Once that happened, she said she had to wait even longer for a courtesy ride from the hospital and told Channel 9 that was also delayed because of staffing issues.

Wilcox said she wants people to know the beds are full, workers are tired, and they should be taking every precaution to save emergency rooms for those who really need it.

“Try to stay out of the hospital if you don’t need to go,” she said. “Just try to stay home, quarantine yourself.”

(WATCH BELOW: SC health leaders urge residents not to go to hospitals for COVID-19 tests)