emergency room Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Lessons From COVID-19 Front Lines: Olympia ER Doc Volunteers To Help At Hard-Hit NYC Hospital

By Austin Jenkins May 4, 2020

Elmhurst Hospital in Queens has been described as the "epicenter of the epicenter" of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York. CREDIT: Dr. Luke Hansen

It was physically and emotionally demanding work made all the more challenging because families weren’t allowed to visit their loved ones. Dr. Luke Hansen said seeing people die in a chaotic emergency room without their families at their side was one of the hardest parts of his time in New York. Read More

It’s Not Just Hospitals That Are Quick To Sue Patients Who Can’t Pay

By NPR News February 19, 2020

Until very recently, the separate company that runs the emergency department at Nashville General Hospital was continuing to haul patients who couldn't pay medical bills into court. CREDIT: Blake Farmer/WPLN

The firm that staffed the emergency room with doctors at Nashville General Hospital was taking more patients to court for unpaid medical bills than any other hospital or practice in the city.Read More

Those Experiencing Mental Health Crisis Find Themselves Stuck In ER, With Nowhere Else To Go

By Tom Banse April 7, 2019

People in mental health crisis can be lodged for days on a gurney in a hallway, like these at Olympia's St. Peter Hospital emergency room, because there's nowhere else to go. TOM BANSE / N3

Some psychiatric patients are spending not just hours in the emergency room, but days or a week. They're living there in the ER because there is nowhere else to send them. Northwest policymakers are now making it a priority to create more treatment capacity for people in mental health and addiction crises.Read More