The action usually comes in waves, but these days the waves are crashing in on doctors and nurses. But today, it's not just public hospitals that are suffering. Dr. Tom Pietz is president of the San Francisco Emergency Physicians Association and says the problem in nationwide. The emergency departments throughout the city are essentially on life support. Don't bring more patients here.
Emergency rooms are money losers and many have closed over the past decade.
Many put off getting treatment until it becomes a real emergency. San Francisco now leads the state in the number of uninsured. In addition, federal law says hospitals have to treat anyone who shows up at the emergency room, whatever their ability to pay. There's a nursing shortage and cost conscious hospitals have fewer beds, fewer places to put ER patients when the emergency is over. You're admitted to the hospital, you're lying on a hard gurney, you're not in a room, not even in a bed, and you could stay that way for many hours, and occasionally, days.