ER Inspector UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL S U N Y HEALTH SCIENCE CENTERUNIVERSITY HOSPITAL S U N Y HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER

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Updated September 19, 2019

This database was last updated in September 2019. It should only be used as a historical snapshot.Researchers can find more recent data on timely and effective care in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ hospitals datasets and guidance about hospital regulations.

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ER Inspector » New York » UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL S U N Y HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER

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UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL S U N Y HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER

750 east adams street, syracuse, N.Y. 13210

(315) 473-4240

72% of Patients Would "Definitely Recommend" this Hospital
(N.Y. Avg: 66%)

4 violations related to ER care since 2015

Hospital Type

Acute Care Hospitals

Hospital Owner

Government - State

ER Volume

Very high (60K+ patients a year)

See this hospital's CMS profile page or inspection reports.

Patient Pathways Through This ER

After a patient arrives at the emergency room, they are typically seen by a doctor or medical practitioner and then either sent home or admitted to the hospital and taken to a room. A small percentage of patients leave without being seen. The chart below shows on average how long each of these pathways take. Lower numbers are better, and all times refer to the average length of time people waited.

Arrives at ER
1% of patients leave without being seen
6hrs 5min Admitted to hospital
9hrs 10min Taken to room
3hrs 44min Sent home

All wait times are average.

Detailed Quality Measures

Here is a more in depth look at each quality measure, compared to state and national averages for hospitals with very high ER volumes. Experts caution that very small differences between hospitals for a given measure are unlikely to correspond to noticeable differences in the real world.

Measure
Average for this Hospital
How this Hospital Compares

(to other hospitals with similar
ER volumes, when available)

Discharged Patients
Time Until Sent Home

Average time patients spent in the emergency room before being sent home (if not admitted).

3hrs 44min
National Avg.
2hrs 50min
N.Y. Avg.
3hrs 26min
This Hospital
3hrs 44min
Impatient Patients
Left Without
Being Seen

Percentage of patients who left the emergency room without being seen by a doctor or medical practitioner.

1%
Avg. U.S. Hospital
2%
Avg. N.Y. Hospital
2%
This Hospital
1%
Admitted Patients
Time Before Admission

Average time patients spent in the emergency room before being admitted to the hospital.

6hrs 5min

Data submitted were based on a sample of cases/patients.

National Avg.
5hrs 33min
N.Y. Avg.
7hrs 50min
This Hospital
6hrs 5min
Admitted Patients
Transfer Time

Among patients admitted, additional time they spent waiting before being taken to their room (sometimes referred to as "boarding time.")

3hrs 5min

Data submitted were based on a sample of cases/patients.

National Avg.
2hrs 24min
N.Y. Avg.
3hrs 12min
This Hospital
3hrs 5min
Special Patients
CT Scan

Percentage of patients who arrived with stroke symptoms and did not receive brain scan results within 45 mins.

91%
National Avg.
27%
N.Y. Avg.
26%
This Hospital
91%

Violations Related to ER Care

Problems found in emergency rooms at this hospital since 2015, as identified during the investigation of a complaint. About This Data →

Violation
Full Text
COMPLIANCE WITH 489.24

Jan 9, 2017

Based on findings from document review and interview, the hospital failed to comply with the requirements at 489.24 and related requirements at 489.20.

See More ↓

Based on findings from document review and interview, the hospital failed to comply with the requirements at 489.24 and related requirements at 489.20. Please reference findings at Tags A2402, A2406 and A2411

See Less ↑
POSTING OF SIGNS

Jan 9, 2017

Based on findings from observation and interview, the hospital failed to post EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment & Active Labor Act) signage in all areas likely to be noticed by all patients arriving to the emergency department (ED).

See More ↓

Based on findings from observation and interview, the hospital failed to post EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment & Active Labor Act) signage in all areas likely to be noticed by all patients arriving to the emergency department (ED). Specifically, EMTALA signs were not posted in the ambulance entrance area of the ED or the Pediatric ED. Findings include: -- During a tour of the ED 1/3/17 at 9:30 am, there was no EMTALA signage posted in the entrance to the ED where patients arrive via ambulance. -- During a tour of the Pediatric ED (on the 4th floor) on 1/3/17 at 9:45 am, there was no EMTALA signage in the waiting room, registration area or triage area. -- During interview of Staff A on 1/3/17 at 9:30 am and 9:45 am, he/she acknowledged the lack of EMTALA signage.

See Less ↑
MEDICAL SCREENING EXAM

Jan 9, 2017

Based on findings from document review and interview, the hospital's bylaws and Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) policy and procedure (P&P) lacked description of a physician extender.

See More ↓

Based on findings from document review and interview, the hospital's bylaws and Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) policy and procedure (P&P) lacked description of a physician extender. Also the P&P was not approved by the Governing Body. Findings include: -- Review of hospital P&P titled "EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act) and COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act) Management and Compliance," last revised 4/2015, revealed that a medical screening exam should be provided by a physician or physician extenders. The P&P did not identify categories of health professionals considered by the hospital to be physician extenders. Additionally, there was no documentation to indicate the P&P was approved by the Governing Body. -- Review of Article 7 of Upstate University Hospital (UUP) Medical staff bylaws addressing health professionals revealed the following statements: Physician assistants and Nurse Practitioners assigned to the ED will perform their duties according to written policies and treatment protocols established by the Emergency Medicine department and adopted by the Medical Executive committee. -- During interview of Staff B on 1/3/17 at 4:00 pm, the above findings were acknowledged.

See Less ↑
RECIPIENT HOSPITAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Jan 9, 2017

Based on findings from document review and interview, in 3 of 20 referral cases reviewed (Patients #1, #2, #3), the hospital failed to accept patients who required inpatient care despite having specialized services and the capacity to treat the patient.

See More ↓

Based on findings from document review and interview, in 3 of 20 referral cases reviewed (Patients #1, #2, #3), the hospital failed to accept patients who required inpatient care despite having specialized services and the capacity to treat the patient. Findings include: University Hospital (UH) documents information about transfer requests received from referring hospitals in the Upstate Triage and Transfer Center (Transfer Center) Transfer Summary Report (Transfer Report), in narrative report documentation completed by Transfer Center nursing staff and in audio recordings of telephone calls between UH and referring hospital staff. Patient #1 -- Review of the transferring hospital's (Hospital A's) medical record (MR) for Patient #1 revealed that the patient presented to Hospital A's emergency department (ED) on 12/12/16 with complaints of sudden onset of mid thoracic back pain, left arm numbness and headache. Examination and testing found Patient #1 had a dissection of the ascending aorta extending into the left subclavian artery and required evaluation by a cardiothoracic surgeon. (Hospital A does not have cardiac surgery services.) Hospital A's ED physician contacted the UH (Transfer Center) to arrange transfer. -- Review of the audio recording and handwritten time line documented by Transfer Center nurse indicated that at 2:27 am, Hospital A's ED physician spoke with Staff C (cardiothoracic surgeon) regarding Patient #1 and the need for transfer. Even though UH had capacity, Staff C indicated he/she could not accept the patient because he was a locums (contracted physician) and was leaving in 3 hours. Hospital A's ED physician indicated that another hospital would be contacted to accept the transfer. Staff C indicated he/she would call the physician coming on and and get back to Hospital A's ED physician. During the subsequent call, Hospital A's ED physician informed Staff C that another hospital had accepted the patient. Patient #2 - {on 2 PC status (two physician certification for involuntary admission)} -- Review of Transfer Center nursing staff narrative report documentation dated 7/3/16 between 9:31 am and 1:42 pm described an initial call from Hospital B inquiring about a psychiatric bed for a patient with depression and suicidal ideation. Transfer Center nursing staff confirmed with the nursing supervisor at UH Community Campus that a bed was available. Subsequent documentation of calls revealed that Patient #2 was not accepted for admission to the psychiatric unit as Staff E (Community Campus Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner) felt the patient needed an alcohol substance program and recommended that the patient be presented again the following morning. -- Additional Transfer Center nursing documentation regarding Patient #2 revealed that at on 7/3/16 at 5:54 pm, Hospital B again contacted UH requesting to transfer Patient #2 and that Staff F (Community Campus Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner) stated the case would not be reviewed until the following day. Staff G (Psychiatric Attending Physician) was contacted, who stated that 5 West (Community Campus psychiatric unit) received 5 new patients that day and would not accept any more new patients that day. Patient #3 - on 2 PC status -- Review of a Transfer Center Report referral dated 7/3/16 at 5:54 pm, revealed a telephone call from Hospital B regarding referral of a ED patient with suicidal ideation and depression to psychiatry. -- Review of Transfer Center nursing staff narrative documentation dated 7/3/16 at 8:02 pm indicated that Staff F stated the case would not be reviewed until the following day. Staff G was contacted and stated that the psychiatric unit at Community Campus received 5 new patients that day and even though beds were available, he/she would not accept any new patients that day. Despite having capacity with documentation indicating that the psychiatric unit at the Community Campus had 11 available beds on 7/3/16 at 7:00 am, UH did not accept the patients for transfer. -- During interview of Staff B on 1/9/17 at 11:00 am, the above findings were acknowledged.

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Notes

“Average time” refers to the median wait time (the midpoint of all patients' wait times). References to “doctor or medical practitioner” indicate a doctor, nurse practitioner or physician's assistant. CMS reports the CT scan quality measure as the percentage of patients who received a scan within 45 minutes. We have reversed that measure so that all measures follow a “lower is better” pattern.

Additional design and development by Mike Tigas and Sisi Wei.

Sources

All data comes from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Detailed quality measures at the hospital, state and national level were last updated September 2019. Most data was collected between October 2017 and October 2018. Data on ER-related violations is from January 2015 to June 2019.

Additional Info

How We've Updated ER Inspector | Download ProPublica's Emergency Room Planning Toolkit | About This Data

Don’t See Your ER?

In some cases we aren’t able to identify the exact location of a hospital, so it doesn’t appear on our mapped search results. However, it may still be in our database – try looking for it in the list of hospitals on each state's page.

In other cases, the hospital is missing from our database because it doesn't have an emergency department.

In other cases, the hospital is missing from the federal government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data. There are a couple of reasons why a hospital isn’t included in CMS data: it may not participate in Medicare, or it may share a certification number with another hospital (common across large hospital systems).

If you notice a hospital missing from our database, please first check if you can find it on CMS' website, and that it is listed as having an ER. If so, please email us with the hospital name and address.