You're saying it is. That is actually quite horrendous, but I'm glad I know that now. I think this situation needs to be looked into.
In the last 30 seconds, one of my frustrations in the emergency department was that because so many services are cut outside, there are a lot of initiatives that people bring to the department, saying that the emergency department is perfectly positioned to do this. They're not emergency things, but no one feels good saying no. For example, it's “Let's offer flu shots to everyone who comes in, because we can catch them here”, or other things, such as “Let's offer smoking cessation programs to any smoker who comes in.” These additional things make us busier.
Is it time for the emergency medicine community to start pushing back and saying, “We're already overloaded in what we're doing. Don't make us do more things that aren't in our mandate”?