Long ER stays are common in the US. It may get worse as the population ages

By DEVNA BOSE, Associated Press and BENJAMIN THORP, Side Effects Public Media
AURORA, Ill. (AP) — At her mother’s home in Illinois, Tracy Balhan flips through photos of her dad, Bill Speer. In one picture, he’s smiling in front of a bucket of sweating beers and wearing a blue T-shirt that reads, “Pops. The man. The myth. The legend.”
Balhan’s father died last year after struggling with dementia. During one episode late in his life, he became so agitated that h