Ellis Adds Beds, Bays to Handle ER Surge

By Cathleen F. Crowley, Albany Times Union, N.Y.

Jul. 25–SCHENECTADY — Acknowledging that patients have regularly waited six hours — and sometimes more than 10 hours — to see an emergency doctor at Ellis Hospital and the former St. Clare’s Hospital, Ellis leaders are adding more beds to the emergency room and medical floors at Ellis.

Before the June 16 merger, Ellis Hospital saw about 110 patients a day in its emergency department. The number has jumped to 124 per a day, and occasionally 150, said James Connolly, president of Ellis Hospital.

“We got hit by a big migration of patients from the St. Clare’s campus to our campus. while we had projected that that could happen, there virtually was nothing we could do early on to create the space that was need to accommodate that volume,” Connolly said. “The ER did get overrun a bit.”

Two weeks ago, the time between arrival in the ER and admission to a hospital bed was often six hours. The wait time has improved, but has not reached the hospital’s goal of 3.5 hours, Connolly said.

Patients have complained about the wait times, including one grievance delivered by Connolly’s own neighbor, he said.

Both Ellis and the St. Clare’s, now called the McClellan Campus, have full emergency departments, but the McClellan Campus no longer admits patients to beds on the medical floors. Those patients are transferred to Ellis by ambulance. Connolly said one or two patients are transferred a day.

The Ellis ER has about 94 nurses and support staff, and the McClellan Campus ER has 46.

So where should Schenectady residents go in an emergency?

“If you are not sure and your really feeling ill and your chest is getting tight, don’t even think about it: go to the closest one,” Connolly said. “If your discomfort is mild and not severe, I think the McClellan ER is fully functioning and will probably have shorter waits than the Ellis ER.”

Before the merger Ellis had 22 treatment bays. It has since added six and another 11 will be ready within six weeks, nearly doubling its capacity.

Meanwhile, Ellis opened up 25 more beds on the medical floors and will have another 35 or 40 more by this fall.

“If we don’t have enough beds in our facility, the patients simply sit in the ER waiting to be taken upstairs and that clogs up the ER,” Connolly said. “Many people think the long waits in the ER are all about the ER, but usually about getting the patients admitted to the floors.”

In the long term, Ellis is looking to expand its emergency department to 50 or 60 bays. The project is still in the design process and needs to be approved by the state. The hospital hopes to complete construction within four years. It will likely cost more than $50 million, Connolly said.

Despite the surge in ER visits, Dr. Brian Gordon, who is a Schenectady County legislator and a orthopedic spine surgeon in Schenectady, said the care provided at both hospital campuses is still good.

“This is a work in progress,” Gordon said. “The long term goal is noble and I think we will have a better health care system in the long run. It’s just going to take some time.”

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