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by _heimdall 810 days ago
That tracks with what I have I assume the average wait times are. Given that its the average, I can only assume the ratio between actual emergencies and everything is worse than 10:1.

For that, I apologize. Maybe it comes down to fundamental problems in healthcare and most people not having a primary care physician, but I just can't imagine going to the ER with anything less than a very serious traumatic injury.

1 comments

As I understand it, the ER cannot refuse patients without money or insurance?

Also people can get sick in the middle of the night or outside of regular clinic hours.

> As I understand it, the ER cannot refuse patients without money or insurance?

That's true, and a whole other discussion. If our ER wait times are 6+ hours primarily because they are full of people without a way to pay for treatment that's a much bigger problem.

> Also people can get sick in the middle of the night or outside of regular clinic hours.

For sure, that can absolutely happen. Though I'd argue the bar should still be high with regards to when a person should go to the ER. Unless its a true emergency one could still wait until clinics open for regular hours.