health / 18d ago
Emergency Department Patient Flow and Bed Capacity Management. What should officials prioritize?
The Ministry of Health and the Bermuda Hospitals Board are providing an update on ongoing work to improve patient flow, reduce Emergency Department overcrowding, and strengthen Bermuda’s acute and long-term care capacity. This update forms part of the shared commitment to keep the public informed as progress continues, particularly at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, Bermuda’s only emergency department. BHB has set a clear operational target of six hours for Emergency Department (ED) boarding, which is the time between the decision to admit a patient and their transfer to an inpatient bed. This benchmark is consistent with the standard used by the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and is the primary measure of ED flow. Hallway care, delayed discharges, and lost acute care bed days all affect how many inpatient beds are available.