If you call an ambulance, you assume you’ll go to the closest hospital. But patients in Rhode Island are increasingly being diverted to more distant emergency rooms due to crowding.
Hospital diversions during the last three years have increased more than 700 percent, according to state health department data. The reason hospitals most frequently reported for diverting ambulances, the data shows, was a high volume of emergency room patients.
The problem is particularly acute in Providence. Rhode Island Hospital reported a more than 360 percent increase in diversions in 2018, as of mid-December, compared with 2017, according to the state data. During the same period, The Miriam Hospital in Providence reported a 230 percent increase.
The closure of Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket last January and a shortage of primary care providers in the state are major reasons for the emergency room crowding problems, said Dr. John B. Murphy, executive vice president of physician affairs at Lifespan, which operates Rhode Island and The Miriam Hospitals.
“The percentage of patients from the Pawtucket and Central Falls zip codes have increased,’’ Murphy said. “As it stands now, with a small inpatient capacity at The Miriam and a large emergency department volume, you end up with ambulances backed up on the street.”
The Miriam Hospital emergency department, Murphy said, had more than 70,000 patient visits last year at a hospital licensed for only 247 beds.
By contrast, Brigham & Womens’ Hospital is licensed for three times as many beds yet their emergency department volume, Murphy said, is about 65,000 visits a year – fewer than at The Miriam.
The crowding also can have a cascading effect. For example, when hospitals in Providence divert ambulances, patients may be taken to Kent Hospital in Warwick. In 2018, Kent reported 106 diversions, up from 15 in 2017.
Murphy said hospital and health department officials are working on ways to ease the crowding, but there is no “silver bullet.” As the flu season approaches, he urged people with flu-like symptoms to stay home and avoid public places. If they need medical attention, he said, they should contact their primary care provider or visit an urgent care center.
