Health Care Shortages Create 'dehumanizing' ER Pileups In Twin Cites Area Hospitals

Near the emergency department of the hospital of St. On a recent night at John's hospital, he was nowhere to be found: not in the two waiting rooms, not in the hallway between them, not on the seats near the sliding glass doors, not near the Snoopy Decor. . .

Some patients slept, others writhed in pain, others convulsed and wondered if they should leave. Some were treated, but not in the emergency room. It was a mass of 40 patients, all waiting.

"It's dehumanizing," says Amy Lockwood of St. Pavel, who sat on the seat for four hours with kidney pain. "Good hospital. I have never seen anything like it. It's crazy."

Crisis-level crowds were expected in the era of COVID-19, when the infectious disease sent people to emergency rooms. But huge numbers of patients continued to challenge Maplewood Hospital and others like it in Minnesota long after the pandemic crisis subsided.

Minnesota was one of the top states for emergency department performance before the pandemic, but its rates have fallen, according to new data from federal hospitals. The average time from EMS arrival to discharge increased from 104 minutes in 2016 to 133 minutes in 2021 in Minnesota, dropping the state from second to 13th.

Waiting times are longer in larger hospitals that receive complex cases from smaller hospitals and patients from larger geographic regions. In 2021, the average number of patients without mental health problems was 245 minutes at St. Louis Park Methodist Hospital and 236 minutes from St. at United Hospital in Paul. The average was 233 minutes at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and 188 minutes in San Juan.

The packed waiting room on Nov. 3 was an example of the problems in Minnesota, Dr. Will Nicholson, vice president of medical affairs at M Health's Eastern Metropolitan Hospitals in Fairview, St. John. including Johannes. The state lacks preventive services to keep patients out of hospitals and discharge them when transitional services are ready, he added.

"The hospital is operating at full capacity and doing what we've always done, which is to keep going and do everything we can to take care of patients," Nicholson said. "Covid has not defeated us. Won't win. But people are tired and we need help."

Doniban has special tasks. Fairview has a St. St. Paul Joseph's Emergency Department closed in 2020. Hospitals in the Eastern Capital Region have covered the loss of emergency care capabilities.

St. John's was the newest when it opened in 1986, but it hasn't seen major improvements like the multimillion-dollar emergency room expansions at rival St. The hospital does not do gender.

Emergency room nurse Debra Leach said the crowds are worse in St. Petersburg. John's, but resident nurses who come in to care for patients waiting to be admitted lighten the load. Leach said he spent many shifts treating patients in the lobby, where he can check vital signs, administer IV fluids, draw blood and perform other basic procedures.

"These people are very sick and we put them there," he said.

Patients Sally Bangura and David Hill didn't know each other, but they depended on each other as they huddled in a corner of the San Juan ER lobby. They reserved seats for each other in case they were called for triage.

"We've been doing this for hours," Hill said, holding an IV in his wrist. His hand was shaking.

Bangura was lost at work, possibly after a change in his blood pressure medication. She felt dizzy and had a headache, but she decided to leave because she was late picking up her son from kindergarten.

"I want to go to the doctor and find out what's going on so I can go get my daughter," she said.

St. John's has turned every inch of ER space into patient care. Curtains cover the temporary treatment area between the waiting rooms. The triage area in front of the reception desk is also used for treating patients rather than triaging them.

The administrative area will become a room in two months. Finding more nurses to fill beds is difficult, but Nicholson said problems on flights are common after the pandemic.

"I don't know what worried us before," he said.

The massage leads into the entire intensive care unit, where half a dozen patients lie on boxes in the corridor. Sometimes patients are removed from medical facilities to make room for people with life-threatening conditions.

Jennifer Hayforth of Big Lake helped her mother, Mavis, who had been in the hospital for hours with chest pains.

"We're still in the process," he said. “A lot of tests were done on it and people came to see what it was like. I know everyone here works really hard ... but it's not a healing environment."

Go somewhere else

Minnesota hospitals have seen a tripling of job openings this year and have been unable to provide enough beds to meet demand. Instead, patients wait in emergency rooms, which by federal law cannot turn away anyone who needs medical care.

Until November 3, all beds on the street. John was full, but they were still full. The problem was next-level, Nicholson said, because nursing home staffing shortages prevented them from preparing patients for discharge. In one ward, 14 out of 32 patients were ready to go.

Kristen Gates was admitted with diabetes and swallowing problems, but her stay was extended due to COVID-19 and a cancer diagnosis. Transitional care has meant adjusting to a new insulin regimen and other changes, but nursing homes are reluctant to accept patients starting chemotherapy.

"This is another blow to me," he said. "We are in an uncertain situation here. No one can tell me what will happen next or where I will go."

The early start of the respiratory season is also putting pressure on hospitals this fall, sending more children with RSV and adults with severe flu to the emergency room.

The patient's wait is over. - Leave it! He said leaving the ERgun in the darkness of the night.

Another stuttered, but was momentarily in his car in a crowded parking lot. Joshua Springbourne had a hernia and wasn't going anywhere. Without treatment, he could not support himself as a cook. He laughed when he thought about the different job expectations.

"People get frustrated waiting 20 minutes for lunch," he said, "but then you have to wait four hours in the emergency room."

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