The University of Chicago plan to limit its services to highly paid elective and non-emergency services and slash resources available for Emergency Department patients has drawn a protest from hospital physicians and national experts, according to published reports.  The plan would reportedly slash 24 beds out of 50 currently available for ED patients needing admission for general medical care and 9 out of 63 intensive care beds, and is expected to further extend the serious delays for patients in the UC Emergency Department.

More than 190 physicians at the hospital have submitted a letter to trustees terming the plan "risky" and a "threat to public safety."   A consulting report submitted by several prominent national leaders in Emergency Medicine reportedly called for an increase in ED beds and other resources for emergency care. 

National studies have demonstrated that delays in emergency care are primarily caused by a lack of in-house beds for admission, such as the ones the UC proposes to cut,  and to a lesser degree by available ED beds.  Extensive waiting times already exist at the UC and are predicted to become much worse under the proposed cuts.

The UC started on a course to focus on the more profitable aspects of medicine last fall, drawing criticism that it was abandoning the low income and ethnic residents of the neighborhoods surrounding the hospital and leaving them with no hospital near enough to provide emergency care.  The hospital plan has also been criticized as being "dangerously close" or actually violating federal EMTALA rules that mandate emergency care regardless of means or ability to pay.

While announcing its plans to send patients to "more appropriate" locations for care, the UC would not be exempt under EMTALA provisions that require that medical screening examinations and necessary stabilizing care to be rendered for patients presenting at the UC campus.  Hospitals in Illinois are required to maintain an emergency department, but the size and capability is not specified. 

Even if the hospital limited its capabilities to specialty elective care, regulations of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) require hospitals to provide assessment and stabilizing care within their capabilities and to transfer patients who exceed their capability.  Transfer requirements include extensive documentation justifying the transfer, obtaining of advanced acceptance from the receiving facility, and provision of appropriate medical transportation and personnel to make the transfer. Discharging a patient with instructions to go elsewhere would not meet federal legal requirements.

A significant political undertone has been noted in conversations with physicians close to the controversy, as doctors wonder whether federal authorities might be deterred from taking action against the hospital due to the involvement of former UC staff attorney and VP, Michele Obama or whether President Obama's plans for healthcare reform would impose minority service standards on the hospital.