An increasing number of Americans are languishing in ERs for hours or even days, waiting for a hospital bed to open for them, a new study says.
More than 25% of ER patients who require admission for hospital treatment wind up “boarded” – biding four or more hours in spare rooms or busy hallways until a bed becomes available, researchers reported recently in the journal Health Affairs.
That number increases to 35% during the winter months, when infectious diseases lead to more emergency hospitalizations, researchers said.
Worse, nearly 5% of patients admitted during the peak winter months waited a full day for a bed, and nearly 3% waited that long during off-peak months, results showed.
