Correct.
Just watching a tough flu season first hand in an ER and 300 bed hospital was eye opening. We never had long wait times to get a room. They were waiting in the ER for 36 hours. Which means there were not beds for other folks. We were doubling up, parking folks, and doing triage as people walked.
In declared emergency we had rooms in a closed part of the hospital, but there are no beds. ( Hospitals do not have a stock of beds more than three days of known intake-surgeries, etc.). Most people have no idea how few “extra” stuff the hospital has on hand.
And inventory—30 days normal seasonal stock. As we emerge from the flu season in the next six weeks the inventory is drawn down. Unless there is an emergency the staff cannot just order more. But let’s say the regional manager says you can...where are you going to get it from? It’s mostly made in China. Those ships are not sailing. And the folks who make this stuff in country—the materials: paper, gauze, elastic...all from China.
3M just laid off 1200. You think they are calling them back? Not yet.
Hospitals are just factories for people. Most people have been dealing with Six Sigma for a decade or more. Believe it or not, the quality management fad is just getting in place in Hospitals. Most of them are a moral mess, a process mess, and a flow mess.
Doctors learning holistic medicine? The doctors are going to take a look at this, roll their sleeves up and do what they can. Most nurses too. But anyone who thinks transport and cleaning staff is going to stick around are delusional. If your workplace was 20% fatal, would your janitors and switchboard Operators show up?
Thank you for hosting this daily, but more importantly thank you for serving the public in the most important way in your profession.
God bless you.
Question: Is there a rule of thumb formula for how many ICU units hospitals should have for a given population area?