Patient influx prompts Genesee Co. hospitals to divert ambulances

Mon, Mar 24, 2008    to del.icio.us

FLINT (AP) — Sometimes there's no room at Genesee County's three hospitals.

Full hospital beds and packed emergency rooms have forced the hospitals at times to divert ambulances elsewhere in order to catch up with the patients already waiting.

The county's three hospitals — Hurley, Genesys and McLaren — have been closed to incoming ambulances for more than 384 hours combined since Feb. 1, according to Genesee County Medical Control Authority statistics.

"It's a combination of capacity issues at all three hospitals," John Stewart, director of emergency operations at Hurley Medical Center, told The Flint Journal for a story Sunday. "It's a cyclic phenomenon."

Though area doctors say they try to keep wait times to a minimum, patients can end up sitting in the ER for hours when the sick and injured start filling up beds and waiting rooms.

Antonio Watts, 27, of Flint, said he spent nearly six hours in Hurley's ER waiting to be seen for a dislocated shoulder about five months ago.

"There were people waiting in the hallway in beds because it was so full," Watts said. "It was bad. I was in pain."

Not every ambulance is turned away during an overcrowding crisis. Those carrying children, patients with potentially life-threatening conditions are still accepted. However, ambulance patients who didn't need to be seen immediately are sent elsewhere.

"This is just an exacerbation of an ongoing problem," Dr. Ray Rudoni, director of emergency services at McLaren Regional Medical Center, said Tuesday while the hospital was diverting ambulance patients. "The entire hospital is full of new patients already."

There's no set formula for when a hospital does decide to divert ambulances, it's just a judgment call based on ER wait times and capacity, said Dr. Michael Jaggi, emergency department chairman at Hurley. He said the decision to do so is a last resort when all other means to control patient surges have been exhausted.

The hospitals are trying to combat the problem by expanding their emergency departments, creating auxiliary ER holding areas and calling in more staff when patients pour in.

The county's medical control authority also has tried to make the diversion process more efficient by establishing an automated system that warns ambulance providers of a full ER.