Ground Zero for our nation’s healthcare crisis is the emergency rooms (“ER”) of local hospitals. ER staff must handle a deluge of un-insured and under-insured patients who look to the ER a

Ground Zero for our nation’s healthcare crisis is the emergency rooms (“ER”) of local hospitals. ER staff must handle a deluge of un-insured and under-insured patients who look to the ER a primary care provider, while assuring that truly critical cases are not overlooked. Staff are also exhausted by the pandemic. Alternatives may exist. One is the practice in some states of allowing paramedics to provide initial and follow-up care for compensation. Think big here. What should happen to relieve the bottleneck in our ERs? What needs to change to make that work?