Wait Continues for ‘Severely Late’ Commuter Rail Cars
In 2008, the MBTA bought 75 new commuter rail cars from Korean-based Hyundai Rotem, in 2013, the MBTA is still waiting for the cars to be delivered. Massachusetts Department of Transportation Secretary and CEO Richard Davey said at a statehouse oversight committee hearing Tuesday the state is still waiting on 75 double-decker coaches for the commuter rail. The MBTA bought the coaches in 2008 from Korean company Hyundai Rotem. “They are late, severely late,” Davey said. He added, however, that MBTA engineers are satisfied with the quality of the cars. Philadelphia and Los Angeles are in front of Boston in terms of waiting for the cars, but transit engineers in both cities are satisfied with the cars as well, Davey said. “At this point while we’re very concerned about the delay,” he said. “The good news is these are not going to be lemons. If we were unhappy with the quality, we would not have tolerated the type of delay we’ve been watching. These types of cars don’t grow on trees.” SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
BMC Emergency Room Wait Times Comparable to Other Boston Hospitals
Which Boston emergency room is the most efficient? It depends on what you mean, according to data released by the Center for Medicare & Medicid Services. At the South End’s Boston Medical Center, the average time patients spent in the emergency department before they were seen by a healthcare professional was 18 minutes, which is much quicker than the state and national averages of 40 and 30 minutes, but but longer than the wait at Mass. General, which is 10 minutes. Of those patients, the average time patients spent in the BMC emergency department before being sent home was 181 minutes, compared to the state average of 152 minutes and the national average of 140 minutes. Finally, the average time patients spent in the BMC emergency department, before they were admitted to the hospital as an inpatient was 280 minutes, compared to the state average of 311 minutes and the national average of 277 minutes. CHART: See how Boston Medical Center compares to other city emergency rooms Behind the NumbersKey measures of ER efficiency have been posted from hospitals taking part across the country, according to a report by Cheryl Clark, senior quality editor for HealthLeaders Media. “With precious little fanfare, Uncle Sam last month rolled out a big, fat database with seven measures comparing a service that many people—healthcare providers and patients alike—consider the most critical any hospital can provide,” wrote Clark. Data collected in 2011 and early 2012 also tracked how long it took for an ER patient to be seen by a healthcare professional and how long the wait was to get a bed if they needed admission. Other data showed how long patients spent in the ER before being sent home and whether they received a brain scan if they might have suffered a stroke. Clark interviewed Dr. Jesse Pines, an emergency room doctor and researcher who directs the center for healthcare quality at George Washington University. “The theory is that when hospitals report this information, it makes them focus on it, and improve throughout their [Emergency Department],” Pines was quoted as saying. “But it’s very hard to do. Certain performance measures are easier to fix—like simple process measures like giving patients an aspirin—than improving ED throughput, which involves development of interdisciplinary teams.” Pines told Clark the public focus good pushes hospital administrators to focus on the emergency room as well as other metrics. In a column, Clark said she thought the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would “make a bigger fuss about such a major release.” She added: Certainly with so much concern about ED overcrowding, and the number of […]
Chart: Compare Boston Emergency Room Wait Times
Boston’s famous for its medical facilities, several of which offer emergency care. But anyone who’s gone to the ER in the city knows it can take a while before you get back home. The chart above compares various emergency room wait times in Boston. The data used comes from the center for Medicare & Medicaid Center’s Hospital Compare web site. Learn more about the Medicare data used in this chart. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch