American Medical News
March 24/31, 2003
California emergency departments close after hemorrhaging money
By Markian Hawryluk
According to a new study by the California Medical Assn., California emergency departments provided $540 million in uncompensated care in fiscal year 2001, up 24% from the previous year.
… since 1990, 60 emergency departments — nearly 15% of California’s EDs — have shut their doors.
The closures have left entire communities without emergency departments and have led to increased patient volume. Waits of more than four hours are common as physicians and nurses struggle to treat high volumes of patients, the study found.
John Whitelaw, MD, California Medical Association president:
“What we are seeing here is an astonishing growth in losses, and it shows no sign of abating. People depend on their emergency rooms to be there for them, but these losses point to a crisis of extreme proportions and underline the threat to emergency care around the state.”
http://www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/amnews/pick_03/gvsd0324.htm
Comment: No amount of personal wealth can protect you from the threat of the deteriorating infrastructure of our emergency system. Rich people will die, along with the poor, because of the failure of our system.
Providing comprehensive coverage for everyone, funded at our current level of spending (15.2% of our GDP), with a level of efficiency available only through public administration, would ensure that our emergency system would be well funded, always there for all of us.