WORCESTER — Emergency rooms statewide are bursting at the seams, with record numbers of patients. It’s a situation that is creating challenges to provide safe and effective care.
The state of affairs is so bad at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston that last week hospital officials said overcrowding reached a “full-blown crisis.”
In Worcester, officials aren’t using that choice of words, but one hospital leader said it’s the worst he’s experienced in decades.
That opinion comes from Dr. Eric Dickson, president and CEO at UMass Memorial Health. Dickson has been associated with UMass for 30 years and said overcrowding in the health system’s emergency rooms in Worcester is at a level he’s never seen before.
“The scariest part is we’re managing today, but there is no clear end in sight,” said Dickson.
All-time record at St. Vincent Hospital
Dr. Adam Darnobid, chief of emergency medicine at St. Vincent Hospital, didn’t say the situation falls in the crisis realm. However, he reported the hospital set a one-day record last week in its emergency room when it received 180 patients.