ROOM OVERCROWDING AND THE LODGER EVIL

Emergency department overcrowding in Massachusetts: making room in our hospitals.

In the past year, stories of Emergency Department (ED) crowding and ambulance diversion have entered Massachusetts headlines with increasing frequency. Hospitals throughout the state now report record numbers of hours on " diversion status, " unable to accept new ambulance arrivals because they are overwhelmed. When emergency responsiveness is threatened, public confidence in the entire health ...

Myth: Emergency room overcrowding is caused by non-urgent cases.

According to critics, patients with minor problems take up limited emergency room (ER) resources and create backlogs, leaving the sickest patients at risk of facing unreasonable and unsafe waits for potentially life-saving care. If this were true, then clearing the backlog would depend on diverting non-urgent patients away from the ER and increasing the number of primary care doctors available ...

Another look at emergency room overcrowding: accessibility of the health services and quality of care.

PURPOSE To describe both the social characteristics and the health needs of the medical users of a pediatric hospital Emergency Room with special emphasis on frequent use. STUDY SELECTION Observational study on health services utilization and health care needs of young children consulting at a teaching hospital's Emergency Room. DATA SOURCES Mother interview and medical record review. RES...

The continuing saga of emergency room overcrowding: are we aiming at the right target?

Emergency room utilization in Canada is considerably higher than in other industrialized countries. Despite significant investments, recurrent emergency room crises persist. Focusing particularly on the situation in Quebec, this paper examines the evolution of Canada's and Quebec's healthcare systems over the past 40 years and identifies the key developments that resulted in today's problems an...

Plantinga and the Logical Problem of Evil