Southeast New Mexico has top rate of emergency room visits

HOBBS, N.M. (AP) - Numbers show southeastern New Mexico has the highest rate of emergency room visits in the state.

The Hobbs News-Sun reports the New Mexico Department of Health says the region in 2017 had a rate of 4,903 visits to emergency departments per 10,000 residents.

The total rate of New Mexican residents seen at emergency departments was 3,901 per 10,000 people.

The latest annual data available came from the state’s 2017 Emergency Department Data Annual Report.

Officials say the southeast New Mexico Region consists of Quay, De Baca, Curry, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Chaves, Eddy and Lea counties.

The reason for the differences is attributed in part to diseases of the respiratory system as well as injury, poisonings and other medical issues more common in the southeastern part of the state.

___

Information from: Hobbs News-Sun, http://www.hobbsnews.com