(Radio Iowa) – Hospitals in the Des Moines metro are encouraging people to avoid emergency rooms, if possible, this summer and go to an urgent care clinic for less severe illnesses and injuries. The message comes as hospitals throughout the country deal with a critical shortage of nurses and expect to see the typical summertime increase in trauma cases. Jennifer Olson is the president of MercyOne Medical Group.

“If you have a finger that is possibly broken, then urgent care can definitely take care of something like that,” she says. “If you have a cough, but you’re not short of breath, urgent care is very much appropriate for that.”

Olson says if you have a serious break in a bone or are experiencing serious life threatening symptoms – like chest pains or shortness of breath – then go immediately to the E-R. According to a recent insurance industry analysis, the average wait time in an Iowa hospital emergency room is 123 minutes.