After being transferred from Florida Hospital East in Orlando to Florida Hospital Orlando for hand surgery, a man spent two days in a hospital bed in a hallway, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
After the surgery on March 13, there were not any rooms available because Florida Hospital Orlando was at capacity. The patient remained in the hallway where he was separated by a partition until late in the afternoon March 14, when the Orlando Sentinel contacted the hospital to inquire about the issue, according to the report.
Florida Hospital Orlando officials said in a statement, "We do not want to turn patients away when they are seeking acute care, and we look for options at all our hospitals to ensure patients receive the appropriate level of care. At times, this means our hospitals are at or over capacity."
The statement went on to say the hospital brings in additional staff and physicians to accommodate high volumes of patients, and it discharges patients as quickly as medically appropriate. "We recognize privacy as a top concern of our patients, and we strive to make them as comfortable as possible," the statement read.
The patient's wife called the situation "unacceptable and disrespectful," and said she was frustrated by hospital staff's lack of responsiveness when she asked for better accommodations for her husband. He was eventually transferred to a room late in the afternoon March 14.