It’s not that it’s cool to hang out in the ED, it’s that the ED has become the purgatory for entrance through the hospital gates.
I get my health care at a big deal medical center. I called my doc to be seen for a painful, but not life-threatening, knee injury. I was told that it would take 3 months to get an appointment with her, but that another doctor on the team could see me in only six weeks. The receptionist advised me to go to the ED if I couldn’t wait six weeks.
Luckily, I could take my excellent and portable insurance and get seen elsewhere. Few still have that option.
