California Physician

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A System in Crisis: ER Losses Mount
[Posted 02/26/03]

For More Information

Press Release
Contact: Karen Nikos,
CMA Media Relations,
213/630-1139

2001 ER Losses by
County and Hospital

Top 40 California Hospitals with Financial Losses in 2001

Summary of Losses for
All Reporting Hospitals

2000 ER Loss Report

In January 2001, the California Medical Association issued its first report detailing losses in California’s emergency system. Since then, losses have escalated in a dramatic fashion further jeopardizing a fragile emergency medical system. According to the latest data, hospital emergency room losses during Fiscal Year 2000-01 reached $389,574,454, up from of $324,699,115 in FY 1999-00, and $316,576,503 in FY 1998-99. In FY 2000-01, physician losses in emergency departments statewide surpassed $150 million. Combined ER and physician losses for FY 2000-2001 total $541 million. The financial impact of this red ink was felt across the state as 80 percent of emergency departments reported losses.

Hospitals may face difficult decisions about whether they will be able to continue to provide emergency care. The losses create such a financial strain on some hospitals that the viability of the entire facility is threatened. This rapid escalation in losses has created an enormous burden on the remaining emergency departments. The drain on the system has led to longer waits for treatment, and left entire communities without a local emergency facility.

Increasing patient volume and a decline in the number of emergency rooms has made multiple hour waits for emergency care the norm. Patient waits of four hours are common in many emergency departments as physicians and nurses struggle to treat the high volume of sick and injured patients. In addition, ambulance diversion, where dispatchers are forced to bypass the nearest hospital, is becoming a common method of dealing with emergency department overcrowding.

The emergency medicine system is an essential public service and should be treated as one. In today’s environment, no one is immune from the crisis facing emergency medicine. If you or someone you know is in an accident or becomes critically ill there no loner is a guarantee that immediate help will be there. The current crisis must be addressed because each year of inaction brings us a step closer to the complete meltdown of our emergency medical system.

FOUR-YEAR COMPARISON OF CALIFORNIA HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM
AND PHYSICIAN FINANCIAL LOSSES REPORTED (1997-2001)

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