SAN DIEGO — CBS 8 is Working for You after receiving an email from a viewer who said her husband spent days waiting for a room at UC San Diego hospital in La Jolla.
The woman, who asked not to be identified, said her husband was placed last month in a hallway and then in a conference room for four days.
“There is no privacy in the conference room setup for 12 patients” the woman wrote.
“The patients are handed ear plugs and eye masks to get some sleep. No one would want their family member treated this way,” she continued.
CBS 8 spoke to nurses who work at UC San Diego hospital in La Jolla. “There is no bathroom, you either have to go around the corner into the lobby where there's a bathroom or use the porta-potty or use a bedside commode,” said floor nurse Lizzy Jones.
The practice of making people wait in hallways or in a conference room is called “patient boarding."
“There is no privacy. And a lot of times you are staring at the person on the other side of the room,” said Jones.
The nurses said patients can expect up to a seven-hour wait to be seen by a doctor in the ER, and three to five days of waiting in a conference room or in an overflow tent or in a hallway to be admitted to the La Jolla hospital.
They said the overflow tent at the hospital can hold 11 patients, the conference room can hold 12, and the hallway surrounding the ER can hold close to 30.
ER nurse Maria Tan said the use of overflow waiting areas began during the COVID pandemic and never went away. “There should be better coordination. So that not all patients are being admitted all on the same day,” Tan said.
UC San Diego Health emailed CBS 8 the following statement:
"There continues to be a demand for emergency care, statewide and nationally. Patient numbers in the Emergency Department fluctuate for a variety of factors, and the acuity of patients in the emergency room varies greatly.
Many patients have their care needs met in the emergency room and are discharged home, but some need further care and are admitted to the hospital. Hospital capacity, like emergency room capacity, has many contributing factors. UC San Diego Health has a comprehensive discharge process in place, new programs to allow patients to receive care at home when appropriate and continues to evolve workflows for maximum efficiency.
We have developed a sophisticated AI-based predictive model that helps forecast and implement various processes to address surges in patient flow.
UC San Diego Health is constantly balancing critical needs in the emergency department and other areas of the hospital. With the addition of East Campus Medical Center at UC San Diego Health, the capacity for both emergency services and inpatient care has increased. The growth in our network of care in the community allows patients to access care closer to home.
We are actively utilizing emergency services at East Campus Medical Center. In the last two months, there have been approximately 300 patients who have chosen to transfer to the location for care. As East Campus Medical Center continues to grow, we expect to see shorter wait times in the emergency department and increased capacity at the La Jolla and Hillcrest locations.
It is important to remind the community that there are multiple options to receive same-day care for minor health issues, including urgent care, express care and video visits. We encourage our community to reserve the emergency department for potentially life-threatening issues or severe illness or injury that requires immediate attention."
The practice of boarding patients in hallways is not unique to UC San Diego in La Jolla, it's happening at hospitals across the state.
Registered nurses from the University of California will be protesting in Sacramento on Tuesday, March 19 in front of the California Department of Public Health to bring attention to the issue.
At CBS 8, we are always Working for You and our community. This is a station promise that we will go the extra mile to solve a problem our audience can’t solve themselves. We want to hear your ideas on how we can cover and help our community. If you have a story idea, please email us at workingforyou@cbs8.com.
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