The hospital developed a new system in the 600-bed ED, providing physician or nurse care within an hour of each patient’s arrival. The number of patients who left the ED without being seen has been slashed by half since August, with the ED now serving 400 more patients a month. Still, in September, the average wait time for an adult seeking care was 12.5 hours.
In May, federal officials had threatened to cut Medicare funding after an inspection revealed overcrowding as the source of delayed patient care and patients leaving the ED without being seen by staff.
Hospital officials are pursuing agreements with two private hospital systems to accept transfer patients and expect to reach a decision within two weeks.
Read the Los Angeles Times report on Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center’s overcrowding.
Read more about hospital EDs:
–Michigan’s Saint Joseph Mercy Designs EDs for Senior Citizens
–New Triage Method Reduces ED Waiting Times at St. Francis in Indianapolis
–Harbor Hospital in Baltimore Linking BlackBerry, iPhone Users to Its ED
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