Valley Faces Shortage of Emergency Room Beds

The health of the San Fernando Valley and surrounding areas has declined during the past three years, with overcrowded hospital emergency rooms turning away larger numbers of poor, uninsured patients, according to a study published today by a health care consortium.

Hospital closures and a rise in chronic conditions such as asthma have compounded the problem at emergency rooms, the study found. Last year, ambulances in the Valley region spent 32,032 hours carrying diverted patients from one hospital to another, compared to 12,395 hours in 1997.

“There are not enough beds,” said Neelam Gupta, a program coordinator for the Valley Care Community Consortium, which assessed more than 80 nonprofit hospitals, clinics and health and social agencies serving the area’s nearly 2 million residents. “This puts lives at risk.”

The findings largely reflect the growing urbanization of the Valley, which has become home to more lower-income residents who lack health insurance. Many of the figures in the 99-page study mirror those for the rest of Los Angeles County and other areas nationwide.

The survey is based mostly on statistics last year from hospitals and the county health department, and questionnaires from other agencies in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys and Glendale.

State law requires nonprofit hospitals to assess themselves every three years. The consortium is unique because it analyzes 11 hospitals as well as smaller agencies and programs, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said.

The report offers no detailed recommendations for improving health care. It suggests a need for nonemergency care after regular work hours and education projects on the appropriate use of emergency rooms.