When Maggie Lawlor had chest pain and trouble breathing this past September, she quickly got herself to the emergency room at UCSF Medical Center.
Because her condition was not immediately life-threatening, Lawlor waited 11 hours on a gurney in the hallway — the chaos around her making her feel increasingly claustrophobic and anxious.
“I had a moment of sheer panic,” said Lawlor, a 79-year-old San Francisco resident. “You just want to go home. You don’t care you’re in pain anymore, or what might be going on. You just want to go home where you feel comfortable and safe.”…