We may have badged the 4-hour standard's demise as a search for a better measure, but that glosses over the fact that it is likely to be unachievable right now. Rising patient demand and increasing global competition for resources have squeezed a health system that was run near maximum occupancy for years before being hit by COVID. The result is that it is sometimes impossible, at least in the short term, to deliver the care we want to give, to everyone who needs it.