Fire Marshal Cites WakeMed For Overcrowding

From NBC17.com (Raleigh, NC)

The Raleigh fire marshal issued WakeMed on New Bern Avenue a citation last week because hospital beds were crowding the hallways in the emergency room.

Over the last two weeks, the hospital has been operating at 120 percent capacity.

"At one point last week, we got to the point where we were going to have to early discharge the moms of newborns and let them stay in a hotel," said Debbie Laughery, a WakeMed spokeswoman.

At another point, the hospital's emergency room became so overcrowded that patients were placed on beds and put in the hallway. Someone called the fire marshal, who came down and hit the hospital with a citation.

"We were doing everything in our power to provide the absolute best care possible under really, really busy, busy times," Laughery said.