With one Penn State football game in the books, several people wrote on the WTAJ Facebook page with concerns about timely access to Mount Nittany Medical Center on gameday.
“They need an open lane to the hospital,” Mini Muir, said. “My son was a patient and it took me 45 min from the exit to get to the hospital, I’m glad he wasn’t in there for anything serious.”
“They need to have some sort of access route to the hospital defined,” Wade Claar, said. “With the way it is now I would say don’t get sick or need to get to the ER on game day.”
With the hospital less than one mile from Beaver Stadium, delays are nearly inevitable.
“There could be a delay, just because depending on what time it is and how many cars are in que, but we’ll get through as quickly as we can,” Moerschbacher, said.
But Bill Moerschbacher, Assistant Chief of Penn State Police says if you’re in that traffic and someone in your car has a heart attack or is going into labor, talk to the nearest officer conducting traffic.
“If someone’s trying to get to the hospital, all they have to do is tell one of the traffic staff, “Look I need to go to the hospital, we have some traffic assistance permits, we’ll ask them to put their flashers on and we’ll get them through the pattern as best we can,” Moerschbacher, said.
Also, ambulance staff at Beaver Stadium can come to the person in need.
“If the emergency is in traffic, or here at football, keep in mind, that there is a lot of medical staff, and police officers are trained in first aid and CPR techniques, so we will help,” Moerschbacher, said.
Moerschbacher says the football parking plan has not affected access or speed to the hospital yet and hopes this advice eases the concerns driver’s have.