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Physicians group: EDs a significant trouble area

Patient Access Weekly Advisor, July 4, 2007

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The nation's emergency departments are overwhelmed, understaffed, underfunded and unready to take on the type of patient surge that could come with a major natural disaster or terrorist attack, according to a group of physicians who met with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last week.

Despite numerous reports highlighting conditions such as patients being boarded in ER departments waiting for rooms elsewhere in the hospital or ambulances diverted to other facilities - creating treatment delays that have led to patients' deaths - federal agencies charged with overseeing the nation's emergency healthcare system have done little to ease the burden, physicians told the committee.

Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., a committee member who chaired the hearing, said HHS "appears to be ignoring the mounting emergency care crisis" despite the billions of dollars Congress has appropriated for biodefense and pandemic preparedness.

Cummings also said HHS has "not made a serious effort to identify the scope of the problem and which communities are most affected."

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