Los Angeles County-USC hospital ordered to reduce ER wait times

Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center has become too overcrowded to handle the expected surge of H1N1 flu patients in coming months, county leaders said as they forced hospital officials to reduce wait times by transferring patients more quickly. The crowd waiting for emergency room beds at County-USC often swells to 100 with some waiting up to 24 hours, Supervisor Gloria Molina said. Recent county reports show that 30% to 40% of the time the hospital is operating at "severely" and "dangerously" overcrowded levels.