Royal Columbian Hospital ER overcrowded again
Posted January 3, 2012 5:17 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NEW WESTMINSTER (NEWS1130) – Patients at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster are waiting on stretchers in the lobby because the emergency room is overcrowded.
Roy Thorpe-Dorward with Fraser Health says the lobby is being used for high-priority patients who need to see a doctor right away.
He says the hospital has been unusually busy over the holidays.
“We always reserve the possibility to open up any area of the hospital that we need to to safely treat patients, but this is not a common situation,” he tells News1130.
The hospital made national headlines back in March when some patients were treated in the Tim Hortons because the ER was packed.
Thorpe-Dorward says that’s not happening now.
