Via the Los Angeles Times: Overcrowding at County-USC Hospital heightens swine flu fears. Excerpt:
Los Angeles County-USC Hospital has become too overcrowded to handle the expected surge of H1N1 flu patients in coming months, county leaders said this week as they forced hospital officials to reduce wait times by transferring patients more quickly.
The crowd waiting for emergency room beds at County-USC often swells to 100, with some people waiting up to 24 hours, Supervisor Gloria Molina said.
Recent county reports show that 30% to 40% of the time the hospital is operating at “severely” and “dangerously” overcrowded levels.
Molina visited the hospital Monday night and met with about 40 families, most of whom had children. She said she talked to at least three patients who had been waiting for 23 hours.
“If H1N1 becomes the kind of pandemic that they think it may be, what you will have at L.A. County-USC is people in gurneys in the hallways; that’s the only capability they have,” Molina said. “They are at a point where they are going to be overtaxed.”
