Problem Cited: Patient care suffers due to a policy that precludes physicians to direct admit at Northwestern Hospital.  Physicians at Northwestern must be permitted to direct admit to sustain the solid reputation of the hospital. Without the physician’s authority to direct admit, the patient’s hope to progress from the emergency room to a hospital room is at the discretion of the administrator, not the doctor.  This policy needs to change. 

Background: For the past few years (2019 to 2022), if my parents or a relative have had health problems that require hospital care, they have been directed to go to the emergency room for admittance.  On one occasion, my Dad was at a Northwestern Urgent Care, and the doctor stated that he needed to be admitted to the hospital.  When he arrived at the hospital, he was directed to the emergency room for admittance.  Northwestern emergency room has always been jammed with patients.  More than once, my family members have waited close to twenty hours for a room.  I know that this happens at hospitals across the country, and I assumed that health insurance companies made these requirements.  

I learned today that the physician's control to direct admit a patient is controlled by the hospital administration.  Northwestern Hospital does not allow their physicians to direct admit their patients.  I believe this detrimental policy.  The overwhelmed emergency room cannot handle the already diagnosed patients.  Patients are waiting in overflow rooms to get seen by the initial emergency room doctor.  Patients are left on gurneys for hours without the necessary care.  Northwestern is a premiere Chicago hospital with excellent care.  To ensure the best care for our family and friends, we must insist that the hospital administration allow doctors to direct admit their patients that require hospital care.  If patients have been assessed by their doctor or the urgent care, the patient should not have to go to the emergency room to be admitted.