I think it is very important at this point to reflect on what we are doing and why. Staffing has affected patient safety across this country and around the world. This petition is a microcosm of what is happening. We are the second largest hospital in Maine and here is another update of what is happening by the current Chief of ER medicine at the hospital:

Dr. Michael Melia, chief of emergency medicine at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, said some patients are “abandoned” in emergency departments by their families or “quite frankly” by the state, which doesn’t know where to bring the patient next.

That leaves patients sitting in emergency departments — sometimes for months at a time — as they wait to be transferred to a more appropriate facility. Within these overcrowded settings, violent incidents often occur, several providers testified.

“That increases the level of violence across the department not just with that individual patient but because of overcrowding and boarding, that puts that patient and other patients at risk.” 

Where we’re at now, certainly at least from the health care provider standpoint, we don’t feel like we’re being protected.”

Please encourage others to sign this petition. 

Friction surfaces between health care professionals and district attorneys offices