This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Highland Hospital in Oakland, CA.
A few months ago, most of us at Highland had never heard of “surge black,” although we knew the hospital often met “surge red” criteria. Now we’re seeing more surge black days in the emergency department.
According to AHS’s description, “surge black” means the hospital is critically over capacity, and that we do not have the resources to meet patients’ needs. This is considered an internal disaster scenario, and should obviously be a very rare situation.
Unfortunately, as we’re seeing, this is starting to become a regular occurrence in the ED. Research shows that when an emergency department is overcrowded, healthcare quality goes down and more patients die. Some patients give up on waiting, and leave the ED, only to get sicker at home. More violence also occurs in overcrowded hospitals, and both patient and worker satisfaction plummets.
Highland is a busy hospital, but we can’t accept surge black as the new normal! Highland workers and patients deserve a hospital that is functional and safe, not always in disaster mode.
Click here to read the article printed in the 09-23-26 Healthcare Newsletter
