We are slowly coming down from a peak in respiratory illness. This past winter was a real test. How will our hospitals—the safety net of our societ

Your Local Epidemiologist

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2024-07-06 18:00:04

We are slowly coming down from a peak in respiratory illness. This past winter was a real test. How will our hospitals—the safety net of our society—fare, given the combination of:

Emergency medicine doctors across the country have been sounding the alarm. Americans are noticing it too. In a recent poll, nearly half of Americans said they avoid the ER—avoid critical care they need—given the wait times.

The emergency room (ER) is the front door of the hospital. Patients come and are quickly seen by a physician, who addresses medical emergencies and other needs. After evaluation and treatment, many are well enough to go home, and some require admission to the hospital. Those admitted patients are seen by the inpatient team of doctors and taken to a hospital bed upstairs.

But what if there are no open beds upstairs? Those patients wait in the ER until a bed opens. These patients are called “boarders.”