ER Wait Times: A Disturbing Trend
A recent news report out of North Carolina detailed how a 77-year-old woman died in the ER after being left in the waiting room for over 5 hours. Despite being classified as an urgent case, the patient in question was not assessed by staff and went into distress in the ER lobby. One of the issues, according to reports, was a staffing shortage at the hospital.
Such shortages are plaguing hospitals throughout the nation, and in Philadelphia hospitals, ER wait times can reportedly range from almost 3 hours to as long as 4 hours and 19 minutes. And, according to an article in Patient Engagement HIT, ER wait times are significantly longer for some patients, such as women experiencing chest pain waiting nearly 11 minutes longer than men to be seen in the ER.
Delayed care and other poor decisions in the ER can have serious and even life-threatening implications. Tom Duffy has recovered tens of millions of dollars for victims of ER negligence, including a $21,000,000 verdict for a patient discharged with misdiagnosed hypoglycemia. If you suspect that you or a loved one is a victim of medical malpractice at a Philadelphia hospital, please contact us.