Ray of Light Amid Darkening Health Crisis

One hospital’s innovative solution to soaring demand and waiting times has raised hopes its success can be replicated across South Australia’s ailing health system. The state is suffering from a hospital capacity crunch, punctuated by elective surgery cancellations and record ramping where patients are stuck outside a hospital in an ambulance waiting for a bed to come free. Lyell McEwin Hospital in Adelaide’s northern suburbs lost 868 hours to ramping in October, the worst of any hospital in the state. But it has since recorded five consecutive months of improvement. In March it lost just 479 hours, with ramping cut almost in half from its peak....