UnityPoint Health–Meriter said its temporary patient holding unit, opened in July to monitor patients waiting for open beds, will be made permanent, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
The unit can house four to eight adult patients at one time and was created with the goal of easing the flow of patients from emergency rooms to hospital beds. It has so far seen over 1,900 patients, and around half spend six hours or less on the unit. Roughly five patients per week have avoided full hospital admission and returned home.
The unit will expand in the main hospital to 13 beds and aim to route about half of all hospital admissions through it. Meriter is also expanding its patient screening process to include additional social factors that could impact care and outcomes, like food access, housing stability, transportation, and intimate partner relationships.
