WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (27 June 2007) -- St. Mary's Medical Center will stop offering emergency hyperbaric oxygen services at the end of the week, leaving Miami or Melbourne as the closest options for those with decompression sickness from scuba diving accidents. The West Palm Beach hospital will continue to treat accident victims and others who have carbon monoxide and cyanide poisoning on an outpatient basis, Monday through Friday. Hospital officials said Wednesday there is not enough patient demand for round-the-clock service. For the past several years, fewer then 50 people have been treated there for emergencies. "It's simply because the service wasn't being utilized," said hospital spokeswoman Kimberly Eloe. Two emergency physicians at St. Mary's are trained for hyperbaric and wound treatment. They have been paid for being on call even when they received no patients, officials said. Eloe declined to disclose their on-call rate. Bethesda Memorial Hospital in Boynton Beach and Wellington Regional Medical Center offer hyperbaric services for non-emergency cases as well. "It falls in line with other hospitals," Eloe said of St. Mary's decision. | 
