Talks underway in Cleveland for solution to crowded ERs

The Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals have joined talks with regional officials in Cuyahoga County on the two nonprofit health systems treating more ER patients, which might "curb crowding at the county's public hospital emergency department." (Source: "Clinic and UH pressured to treat more ER patients," Oct. 24, 2007.) The conversations are still in the early stages and no definitive plans have been set. Cuyahoga County Commissioner Tim Hagan said that the constant rise in patients at MetroHealth (Cuyahoga County's public hospital emergency department) is not sustainable and that "Those (other) hospitals have a responsibility to share the financial burden."

According to the article, "The growing tension around health care in Cleveland epitomizes what some call a national health care crisis in which hospitals--especially those known for providing free care to the needy--are struggling to treat a growing number of uninsured." To handle this growing patient load, MetroHealth built a new emergency department in 2004, which initially served 67,600 patients annually and was constructed to accommodate up to 100,000 a year. Only two years later, the new department saw a 35 percent increase in patients and served 91,000 patients, just below the total number the department can handle. In comparison, the numbers of patients treated at University Hospitals and the Clinic's Cleveland campuses have remained relatively flat, although "University Hospitals reports that emergency departments at its main hospital and Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital are treating as many patients as they can."