By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- A nationwide flu outbreak did not drive up Massena Memorial Hospital’s admission numbers for January, their CEO reported at Monday’s Board of Managers meeting.

MMH CEO Robert Wolleben said their instances of laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza tripled last month compared to the same month last year. However, a financial and statistical report made public at the board meeting shows their inpatient discharges at the same time went down 12 percent.

“I know there are reports elsewhere in the country about flu being a big driver of hospital admissions. That is not the case here,” Wolleben said.

They confirmed 65 cases of flu in January 2017 and upwards of 190 last month, according to the CEO. MMH in January 2017 discharged 228 patients, and 200 last month, the summary says.

MMH medical director Dr. Nimesh Desai said doctors often will not hospitalize flu patients because it isn’t always necessary, and sick people staying at home when they can means the germs don’t get spread around.

“Not everybody needs to be admitted. It would be better off to stay home than being in the hospital,” Desai said. “We’ll be happy to bring you the prescription without you coming into our offices. If you catch it early, you can prevent further complications.”