I have a real concern: I've been on our CCU for 5 years now and suddenly my "conscientious hospital" is saying things to us like, "we are no longer going to move step-down patients, you can take care of 3 or 4 step-downs." Even worse, they are telling us, "If the emergency room is overcrowded, then we are already out of compliance, so it doesn't matter if you have 3 ICU patients" (the law states 2 ICU patients). How can they get away with this? Aren't they breaking laws as well as cutting their own throats by filling expensive ICU beds with step down patients? Has anyone else faced these problems?
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