Comments by architect
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Posted on February 27 at 5:45 a.m.
If the CEO is "open to any solution," here's one.... Stop refusing ambulances. It has become common practice for the ER staff at Natchez Regional to refuse to accept ambulance patients. Typically, emergency departments go on what is called "diversion" when there are no beds available in the hospital. A "diversion" status is simply a request for ambulances to take patients who will likely need to be admitted to another hospital that still has beds available. However, it is only a request. It is illegal to actually refuse ambulances, but Natchez Regional continues to do so even when they still have rooms available in the hospital. They do not refuse ambulances all the time, but they do it on a regular basis. They have even refused ambulances carrying their own employees before. Natchez Regional has a large building but does not use all it's rooms. They have empty hospital rooms and are cutting staff hours while they continue to refuse ambulance patients. It doesn't make sense.
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Posted on February 27 at 8:12 a.m.
I am not confusing NRMC with Natchez Community. Natchez Community is busting at the seams. It is a small building that gets filled quickly and usually stays filled. That is why it continues to make money. NRMC has a large building with some rooms that are not even used from what I've heard from several NRMC employees. Emergency rooms are always busy and usually are full. That's why they have waiting rooms for nonurgent patients. That is not a reason to refuse ambulance patients. Diversion is not supposed to be for busy ERs. If the ER at Natchez Regional is so busy that it has to turn away patients while in extreme debt, maybe they should send some of the staff in danger of being layed off down to the ER to help out.
According to this article, NRMC needs an increase in revenue or patients. It just seemed strange to me to hear that a hospital that needs more patients to survive is continuing to turn them away.
On Natchez Regional facing drastic changes