About Emergency Department/Trauma
California’s emergency departments (EDs) are filled to the brim (some 15 million people visit EDs every year) — often so packed that patients are forced to wait hours to be treated and ambulances are delayed in transferring patients to hospitals. Several things are behind this crisis:
- A lack of primary care clinicians that accept Medi-Cal
- A lack of post-hospital care sites (nursing homes, rehab facilities, mental health and addiction facilities, etc.) for patients and challenges with commercial insurance companies approving post-hospital care
- Workforce shortages
- Massive increases in the need for mental health and substance use disorder treatment
- Growing hospital financial distress, in part due to government payer shortfalls
- A dearth of alternative community care sites, like clinics or home settings
Without change, EDs — which accept all patients 24/7 year-round — will struggle to provide critical care to those experiencing trauma, injury, or acute medical conditions. Addressing this problem will take commitment and innovation from insurance companies, state policymakers, providers, and others to deliver better access to primary and specialty services, improved funding for ED care, and more.
2025 Behavioral Health Care Symposium
Registration opens June 3, 2025.
The 2025 Behavioral Health Care Symposium returns to Sacramento!
2025 Disaster Planning Conference
The 2025 Disaster Planning Conference will be in Sacramento this year. It’s sure to be as spectacular as ever.
2025 Emergency Services Forum
Join us for the 2025 Emergency Services Forum, returning to beautiful Newport Beach! This conference is dedicated to the uniqueness of hospital ED management and its intersection with emergency services and the community. We’re finalizing an exceptional lineup of speakers and engaging topics. The 2024 Emergency Services Forum sold out – this is an event you and your colleagues don’t want to miss!
Timeline Undetermined for Implementation of AB 40 Regulations
What’s happening: Due to state budget constraints, the state Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has not yet approved the Emergency Medical Services Authority’s (EMSA) Assembly Bill (AB) 40 (2023) regulations for public comment.
What else to know: AB 40 passed in 2023 with the intent of improving long ambulance patient offload times (APOTs). Despite the delay on implementation, CHA continues pursuing opportunities to collaborate with health care partners to improve long APOTs, which affect the entire health care delivery system.
CHA Symposium Focuses on New Approaches to Behavioral Health Care
What’s happening: More than 250 health care professionals and hospital leaders from across California gathered in Long Beach on Dec. 4-5 for CHA’s annual Behavioral Health Symposium.
What else to know: Attendees discussed innovative ways to connect patients to community-based care and tackle stigma, updates to California’s involuntary treatment and emergency services laws, and more.
Upcoming EMSA Commission Meeting to Discuss APOT Report
What’s happening: On Dec. 11, the Commission on Emergency Medical Services will convene in San Francisco, where it will discuss an ambulance patient offload time (APOT) report, among other topics.
What else to know: The report in the Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) Commission Meeting Packet includes APOT data by hospital. More details for the in-person meeting can be found on the EMSA web page. See CHA’s APOT issue web page for additional resources.
Ambulance Patient Offload Times
When patients arrive at hospitals via ambulance, the goal is to transfer them to hospital care as quickly as possible. But that process can be slowed by several factors: the physical layout of a hospital, current unprecedented patient volume, increased acuity of patients’ illness or injury, and more.
Assembly Bill 40 (2023) – APOT Reduction Protocol Requirements
As mandated by Assembly Bill 40 (2023), California hospitals must submit Ambulance Patient Offload Time (APOT) Reduction Protocols by September 1, 2024. This Educational Brief will provide you with some best practices from your peers. This presentation reviews key deadlines and requirements and shares Sutter Health’s approach to incorporating APOT protocols into existing procedures.
New Demands on Emergency Departments in 2024 — Participant Information
Actions taken by Governor Newsom during the 2023 legislative season will significantly impact California’s emergency departments. Many bills signed into law affect hospitals for years to come.
Hear from CHA experts as they focus on the implications of ambulance patient offload time requirements, behavioral health care laws, and discharge challenges.
The Future of California’s Emergency Medical Services System — Participant Information
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
Hellen Keller
CHA is bringing together EMS partners from multiple emergency services organizations to provide an overview of the future landscape of emergency medical services (EMS) in California. Liz Basnett, Director of the California Emergency Medical Services Authority, will provide a high-level overview of the California EMS System Strategic Plan and how it will serve as a guide for enhancing and improving emergency medical services. Additionally, hear from the Emergency Medical Services Administrators’ and Emergency Medical Services Directors’ Associations of California and the California Ambulance Association as they highlight their respective organizations’ efforts and 2024 priorities.