STATE HOUSE — The bill that would allow the state to deny a gun license to anyone on the federal government's terrorist watch or no-fly lists has had a rollercoaster ride through the Legislature since Rep. Lori Ehrlich filed it in December, but that ride now appears to be over.
Despite renewed interest on Beacon Hill in the last two weeks, the bill is not on the schedule for the last five weeks of formal sessions, Senate President Stanley Rosenberg said Monday.
Despite a national reputation for excellence, Massachusetts hospitals lag behind the rest of the nation in emergency room wait times – by as much as 10 minutes in some instances, according to federal data for 2015 reviewed by the NewBostonPost.
The greatest discrepancy is among local hospitals with high-volume ERs – between 40,000 and 60,000 patients a year. The average wait time in these hospitals is 42 minutes, compared with a national average of 29 minutes. The gap narrows slightly for medium-volume emergency departments – 20,000 to 40,000 patients annually – where the state average is 36 minutes, compared to 25 minutes nationally, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
