Overflow ER Patients Housed in a Donut Shop

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"Canadian health authorities are defending a Vancouver-area hospital's decision to put overflow emergency room patients in a nearby coffee and doughnut shop.

The situation arose late Monday night and lasted into Tuesday morning at the suburban Royal Columbian Hospital when a surge of 190 patients led officials to move five patients in hospital beds to the nearby Tim Hortons restaurant until the backlog could be cleared, The (Vancouver) Province reported.

The restaurant was closed and patients were separated by screens and monitored by medical staff, hospital officials said. The facility was cleaned after the patients were taken out." UPI

I applaud the administrators of the Royal Columbian Hospital for thinking outside the box. Temporarily housing patients in a restaurant beats providing care for them in the hospital parking lot.

The only complaint I have is that the coffee shop was closed. I wouldn't mind waiting to be treated for a stab wounds, as long as I had access to coffee and donuts.

I wonder what caused the surge of 190 patients? Did Celine Dion fans get hurt rushing to see her at an appearance at a bookstore or record store?

I hope the coffee shop doesn't lose any regular customers when they find out that it was used to house patients.

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Robert Paul Reyes is a NewsBlaze writer on Politics, Pop Culture and Pointless Pontificating. Contact him by writing to NewsBlaze.