Two in five acute care patients don’t need to stay at the hospital… As pressure on the Emergency Department builds, overcrowding once more highlights the need for more care in the community
About two in five patients occupying beds in the hospital’s Acute Care Wing could be cared for elsewhere.
That has been the case so far in 2026, according to a Bermuda Hospitals Board spokesperson, who stated: “Over the last three months, around 40% of the 90 beds in the KEMH acute care wing have been occupied by people who are medically fit to be discharged.”
Bermuda Broadcasting reached out to the hospital after a concerned resident cited growing numbers of patients waiting in the Emergency Department for beds.
The BHB spokesperson said that, as of Tuesday morning, “34 patients in the acute care wing were medically able to be discharged, with another six medically fit patients in other areas of the hospital – a total of 40 … That means the beds are not available for acutely ill patients who are admitted through the Emergency Department.
“These patients are cared for in Emergency while they wait for space to open up in the acute care units.”
Such circumstances mount pressure on an already beleaguered ED, which saw an average of 82 patients a day in March – up from 77 in March 2025, with five days exceeding 90 patients.
However, admissions for the first three months of 2026 are similar to 2025. The spokesperson says the public can help ease pressure on ED by only going there for emergency care, and seeing a family doctor or visiting Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre for less serious cases.
The comments from the hospital highlight a perrenial problem – the dearth of care outside of KEMH.
Last March, BHB was reported 40 fit-for-discharge patients left in the hospital, and one Emergency patient waiting five days for admission.
At that time, Chief of Staff Dr. Anna Neilson-Williams told Bermuda Broadcasting that the answers lie external to the hospital, and “what is needed is more facilities”. She added: “It’s likely that we may be facing this scenario again.”
A year on, the hospital spokesperson told us that about 60% of patients who are medically fit to leave are waiting for nursing home placements, which can be difficult in complex cases such as dimentia, and with young people who need long-term care.
“Other discharges are postponed until home care can be arranged or changes are made in the home to ensure a safe environment,” the spokesperson said. “In some cases, family members are not available, or they are unable or unwilling to take on the responsibility of home care.”
The hospital points to Government’s commitment to increase nursing home availability, plus funding for BHB to convert spaces for transitional care, as potentially easing pressure.
“This will allow us to move medically fit patients out of the acute care units, placing acutely ill patients from Emergency in the vacated beds.”
“Moving one long-stay patient out of an acute bed means multiple acute patients can be treated and discharged from the same bed over just a few weeks.”
