Dozens of UC Davis Medical Center beds unavailable during construction
SACRAMENTO — A massive construction project at UC Davis Med Center has first responders alarmed. They worry a decrease in beds will pull more of their resources and ultimately cost taxpayers more
The California Tower will be a 14-story, 1 million-square-foot addition to the Sacramento hospital. It will increase the number of hospital beds from 625 to 700. It's being done to meet seismic requirements for hospitals, but a decrease in 70-plus beds during construction is shaking up staffing, according to Sacramento Metro Fire.
"This is new to us, and it's going to be a challenge as we move forward," said Metro Fire Battalion Chief Parker Wilbourn.
Wilbourn said wall or wait times for ambulances have been a problem in the past – something CBS13 first told you about during the pandemic. He worries it will only get worse with fewer beds.
"So when there is no bed available when a patient is brought in on a gurney, they become the bed and they can sometimes sit there for upwards of four, five, 10 hours before they can move that patient to a hospital bed," Wilbourn explained.
He said that creates a backlog, which in turn impacts response times and patient care.
"Right now, we're triaging and consolidating patients," Wilbourn said. "So one paramedic can take up to four patients on wall and release some of those ambulances."
But just how much are Metro Fire personnel augmenting hospital staff?
An ambulance strike team rate for an EMT and a paramedic is $210 an hour. In January, the bill for all hospitals in the area was $566,000. Last October was over $800,000.
"There's got to be a reimbursement," Wilbourn said. "We are, right now, hemorrhaging money of the taxpayers' dollars to cover our staff augmenting hospital staff. It's not right.
UC Davis said every hospital has construction and maintenance projects. Beds are made available, and sometimes unavailable, due to upgrades taking place in the hospital's facilities. The number of beds we have changes on an almost monthly basis.
Metro Fire said they've dealt with the loss of beds before with other hospitals under construction. There was just a better solution with no impact on the 911 system.