Re-evaluating the Practice of Emergency Room Diversion

Host: Shira Johnson, MD Guest: Angela Gardner, MD The practice of emergency room diversion began back in the late 1980s to help prevent overcrowding in busy hospitals. But does it still work? Hospitals across the country are so crowded today that ambulances are turned away regularly. Dr. Angela Gardner, president-elect of the American College of Emergency Physicians and assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of Texas at Galveston, explores the issue of overcrowding and the policies designed to combat the problem, with host Dr. Shira Johnson.