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ER staff tell Health Commission chronic understaffing leaves dozens of beds empty and raises safety concerns
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Summary
Emergency‑room staff told the commission they routinely see 13–22 empty beds out of an expected 58 because of staffing shortages, reported long patient boarding times and high staff anxiety/PTSD symptoms, and asked DPH to address bilingual services and staffing data.
Workers from San Francisco General’s emergency department told health officials the department’s staffing shortages are creating unsafe conditions for patients and staff.
Krista Duran, who identified herself as ER staff, said the ER has an average of 13 to 22 open beds out of 58 due to staffing shortfalls and that psychiatric emergency services are continuously at capacity. "That is scary," she said, and handed commissioners a packet of shift assignments illustrating gaps between planned and actual staffing.
A nurse identified as Julie said many patients wait 15–20 hours, and sometimes longer, in the ER for an unfunded bed upstairs. She cited examples of patients who waited 26 hours and described staff survey results showing high rates of new anxiety symptoms and PTSD‑like symptoms related to work: "92 percent of the staff say that they are having anxiety symptoms that are new in the past 2 years related to work." Julie said nearly half of respondents reported quitting, retiring early or planning leave as a result of a hostile work environment or violence.
Commenters asked the commission for follow‑up on bilingual services and on staffing data; commissioners and the department said they would review the materials handed to staff and follow up. No formal action or vote occurred on this public comment item.
