County-USC hospital reaches “dangerous” levels of overcrowding

Overcrowding at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center reached “dangerous” levels this summer, according to the Los Angeles Times.

From June to July, the hospital went from four hours of “dangerous” overcrowding to eight hours at the end of July, the Department of Health Services reported.

This comes at a time when the county is considering cutting off Medicare funds to the hospital, it announced on Tuesday.

Hospital officials say they are doing their best, however, with the limited resources and beds.

“Currently, we have eked out high efficiency in a facility that has reached its maximum capacity,” said Dr. Stephanie Hall, the hospital chief medical officer, in the Times. “Until we have additional capacity, we predict this will continue…. Our capacity remains finite.”

The county predicts a $600 million deficit its health care budget for the next year.