More than 1,000 patients await discharge across Massachusetts hospitals
A large number of patients are languishing in acute care beds at hospitals across Massachusetts, largely because there is no available place to discharge them as facilities struggle with staff shortages.
A survey released last week by the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association showed that 1,066 patients in 44 different hospitals across the state are waiting to be discharged. The majority of those people are waiting for a nursing home that can take them. In other cases, patients are waiting to continue their recovery at a rehabilitation center, or waiting to confirm in-home care.
The inability to transition patients out of hospitals does more than delay recovery times, says Terry Hudson-Jinks, chief nursing officer and chief patient experience officer at Tufts Medical Center.
“We work hard to make sure we have enough capacity to treat all patients, so there are a lot of patients taking care at acute care right now,” Hudson-Jinks said. “The inability to transition a patient that no longer needs acute care actually gets in the way of bringing in other patients that need our care.”
Read the full story from WGBH here.
