Michael Herman

🚨 ED overcrowding is not an emergency department problem. It is a health system failure. The new CAEP position statement argues that hospital access block, not inappropriate ED use, is the primary driver of crowding. Patients waiting for inpatient beds experience worse outcomes, while clinicians face increasing burnout and moral distress. Key messages: ✅ Overcrowding is a patient safety crisis ✅ Access block is the main cause ✅ Boarding harms patients and staff ✅ Hospitals need occupancy targets, flow accountability, and discharge capacity ✅ Governments must expand acute, long-term, community, and mental health care capacity The solution is not "fixing the ED." The solution is fixing patient flow across the entire health system. #EmergencyMedicine #HealthPolicy #PatientSafety #AccessBlock #EDCrowding #CAEP #MedTwitter #FOAMed #CJEM link.springer.com/article/10…

On the day that Mr. Sreekumar died waiting for care there were 48 out of 51 ED spaces in that ED blocked by sick patients that should have been admitted to hospital. The ED was non-functional. Govt knows the root cause, and has done nothing This review will change NOTHING!

Unfortunately the author misses the mark on accountability and speaks as an administrator. He states that holding physicians accountable solves northern zone issues. Physicians are already accountable. CAEP is calling for administrators, managers and politicians to have the same level accountability of those on the front line. @raghu_venugopal @alandrummond2 @NightShiftMD @CAEP_Docs

In 2016, Canada's emergency physicians identified a potential shortfall of trained emergency physicians of 1500 by 2025 if things weren't immediately done to improve training and practice. The report was sent to every government; nothing was done. Reap what you sow.

Hey AB: Our functional ED capacity in the Edmonton area has been devastated We have NEVER had overcrowding in our EDs that looks like this in our summer (typically we see admitted volumes decrease in the summer) > 6mnths since Mr. Sreekumar's tragic death, NOTHING is better 1/2

Beyond time to address this issue. ED overcrowding can lead to long wait times, and are certainly inconvenient for anyone, but what concerns healthcare providers is the safety risk and adverse events that older adults experience because of that overcrowding. @TrevorJain @BlairBigham @NightShiftMD @EmJayHermano @PfParks @mdmama_ @alandrummond2 cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7…

I joined @CBCNL The Morning Show today to discuss the impacts of ED overcrowding on older adults; time to declare it a public health/patient safety emergency! St John's Morning Show with Jen White - July 6, 2026: ER doctors say long wait times are a health risk, not an inconvenience cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-5… @TrevorJain @BlairBigham @NightShiftMD @EmJayHermano @PfParks @mdmama_ @alandrummond2 @CAEP_Docs

We can fix our hospitals. Waiting 44hrs for an inpatient bed shouldn't become the norm. To reduce ER wait-times we must address outflow - enough hospital beds on inpatient units, long-term care spaces for those who need one, supportive housing, and access to quality home care.