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Emergency department boarding called a statewide patient‑safety crisis; task force urges quality measures and discharge reforms
Summary
Physicians and a legislative working group warned that overcrowding and prolonged boarding in Connecticut emergency departments is harming patients and staff. They urged the legislature to adopt quality metrics, better discharge pathways and targeted investments rather than narrow legal fixes alone.
HARTFORD — Emergency physicians, a statewide working group and family members told the Public Health Committee that emergency department (ED) boarding — admitted patients held in ED spaces for many hours or days because no inpatient bed is available — is a patient safety and workforce crisis in Connecticut.
Dr. Chris Moore, emergency physician and lead of a December 2024 ED boarding working group, urged lawmakers to adopt stronger statewide measures. “I would like to suggest that you strengthen this bill by directing the Office of Health Strategy to incorporate boarding measures… as a quality measure for value‑based care,” Moore said. He told the committee that decades of local experience and a new reporting law (PA 24‑4) show the problem is widespread and linked to system‑wide capacity and discharge inefficiencies.
Nut graf: The task force recommended a multi‑pronged approach that…
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