Newsletters
The header image is the default header image for the site.Addressing the Emergency Department Boarding Crisis: Insights and Solutions from the AHRQ 2024 Summit
POSTED: June 17th, 2025
POSTED IN: EM Pulse - The Official Newsletter of MOCEP, EM Pulse Q2 2025,
Emergency department (ED) boarding—when admitted patients wait extended periods in the ED for inpatient beds—is a growing public health crisis in the U.S., negatively affecting patients, healthcare workers, and public safety. In response, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) convened a Summit in October 2024, bringing together a broad coalition of stakeholders to develop actionable hospital- and system-level strategies to address the issue. The Summit followed a bipartisan call from 44 members of Congress urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to pursue both immediate and long-term solutions. This report summarizes the expert discussions and recommendations generated during the Summit.