Emergency Department Boarding Stories

"In a state known for education and health care, we are a small hospital without many resources. There are many cases of struggles; due to our size and remoteness we cannot care for everything. Patients who live in our area and have means; seek care elsewhere at tertiary centers. Frequently people with complex medical problems are too ill to get to a large hospital. While they come to our ED and receive as much care as we can provide; we cannot provide definitive or subspecialty care.

The patients are transported by our single ambulance great distances to unfamiliar cities, well beyond where their families can see them.

If someone needs transfer we frequently call 'their' hospital and are declined. It was not uncommon to have someone placed on a "Wait List" for a bed for days on end. When they wait; we are unable to provide the care they are waiting for and the patient suffers. More commonly we seek alternate places for the patient to receive care. This frequently is a different system, and hours away. The patients are transported by our single ambulance great distances to unfamiliar cities, well beyond where their families can see them. We make calls for hours until we can get care for someone."