Why not just increase the number of ER beds?
UCMC has over the years found that increasing the number of emergency room beds has not produced a lasting effect. In 2002 the Medical Center had 21 adult ER beds. With those 21 beds, UCMC went on ambulance diversion about 12 percent of the time and 12 percent of patients left without being seen. (The national average is about 2 percent, and almost 5 percent in urban areas. This increases as volume and waiting times go up. A 2006 survey found that average ER waiting time was 4.4 hours for an ER with 40,000 visits a year, but waiting time increased by 30 minutes for every 10,000 additional patients.) In 2004 UCMC spent $6.5 million to increase the size of the adult ER from 21 to 31 beds and nearly doubled the ED budget. The number of patients who left without being seen dipped briefly then went back up. In 2008, 13 percent of adult ER patients left without being seen and UCMC went on diversion almost 25 percent of the time.
