Dear Editor,
This is an interesting discovery, something that seems to have escalated since the pandemic. Most people think that the medical field has mostly recovered from COVID-19, but that is not nearly the case. Since the pandemic, ERs have been overloaded, and many patients have been treated in the hallways on a gurney.
From my experience, I have been seen, attended to and treated right in the hallway surrounded by gurneys. This seems to be an issue globally, as the medical field cannot keep up with pile of cases since the pandemic. While this may not seem like a prominent issue, letting patients wait hours just to be seen is a serious liability issue if the patient has extensive health issues. Not to mention, the lack of privacy could be in breach of HIPAA when it comes to consulting patients in the hallway. From my minimal experiences, I have learned more about other patients than I am comfortable knowing, as well as shared more than I was comfortable with surrounding patients overhearing. Additionally, with gurneys lining the halls and desks of a hospital, patients can easily overhear doctors’ conversations or be mixed up and mistreated.
Overall, we can see that our current international predicament following the pandemic and/or lack of proper resources has had a significant impact on medical treatment and experience. While the problem remains to be solved, it is vital that the health care system find a way to remedy this issue, as it can lead to severe malpractice or unnecessary patient suffering, whether by incident or neglect.