Hospitals that temporarily shut their doors to ambulances have long argued the decision is driven purely by volume, so sick patients don't have to endure long waits for care in crowded emergency rooms. But a new study has uncovered evidence of another motive for the practice: Hospitals may be turning away ambulances for financial reasons by avoiding treating patients with government health insurance or no coverage at all.
Seven floors, and long odds, were stacked against John S. He was undergoing a test on the first floor of a Cleveland Clinic hospital when his nursing team — on the eighth floor — got a call, telling them the 57-year-old had developed a dangerously rapid heartbeat that was spiraling toward cardiac arrest.
Uninsured, undocumented immigrants often go to the emergency room for treatment. Since 1986 the federal government has required that patients in the emergency room receive care, regardless of their immigration status or ability to pay. But caring for chronic conditions such as kidney disease or cancer in the emergency room is expensive. So some states are quietly expanding access for undocumented immigrants to obtain medical treatment beyond the ER.
This year’s count of measles cases has already surpassed 800… and it’s only May. According to U.S. health officials, the growing tally that is the nation’s highest in 25 years. A total of 839 cases were reported as of last week. That’s the most since 1994, when 963 were reported for the entire year.
The hospital had already transferred out most of its patients and lost half its staff when the CEO called a meeting to take inventory of what was left. Employees crammed into Tina Steele’s office at Fairfax Community Hospital, where the air conditioning was no longer working and the computer software had just been shut off for nonpayment.
At least eight doctors are resigning from Bangor’s Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center amid a push by the hospital to reduce their ranks, cut their benefits and have fewer doctors work each day, forcing those on duty to see more patients in a shift.