Austin police fear some drunk drivers may get off scot-free -- after local hospitals decided they will not help with blood draws.

Officers say drinking and driving is a huge problem here in Austin. Last year seven thousand suspected drunk drivers were arrested. Without evidence for a conviction, our problem could get worse.

"Things went from kind of bad to really bad real quick," APD Lt. David Mahoney said.

For blood draws officers typically turn to the Travis County jail nurse, but as of January 1st, nurses began turning away Austin arrests. Now Seton Family Hospitals and St. David's-- the only two other options for police-- have also said no.

This is a statement from Dr. Steve Berkowitz from St. David's Hospital:

“The Emergency Departments of the St. David's HealthCare hospitals in Travis County--  South Austin Hospital, St. David's Medical Center, and North Austin Medical Center-- are highly specialized centers that are geared toward treating acutely, medically ill patients.  A person needing a forensic blood alcohol determination by order of police is neither acute nor medical. 

Although we routinely measure a patient's blood alcohol level as part of a medical work up when ordered by a physician, we are not set up to handle the forensic chain-of-custody protocols required for police/court ordered blood alcohol tests. 

We are very supportive of Chief Acevedo's efforts to curb drunk driving -- we often have to take care of the medical consequences of such people.

We would welcome a continuing community dialogue to better flush out alternative venues to implement this process.”

Seton Family Hospitals Senior Vice President Greg Hartman says they too will not test suspected drunk drivers.

"It seems to us there's still a question so what we're saying is before we do this we really need to clear up the legal questions make sure the liability is very clear," Hartman said.

Hartman does say the hospital will make an exception for people involved in an injury or fatality accident. It is not known if St. David's will do the same. In the meantime, it's the weekend -- and Lt. David Mahoney is scared.

"Particularly for an intoxication manslaughter or an assault where someone is severely injured or killed you're not going to be able to get that evidence if we can't find anywhere to draw the blood,” Mahoney said.

Both hospitals want to be clear--they are currently researching whether they can still do blood draws for police. This situation is not permanent. APD is looking into alternatives like hiring permanent phlebotomists or training officers to take blood.