|
Registered nurse Eva Raisor checks on Charles Thomas at Mary Washington Hospital's new freestanding emergency room in Spotsylvania. Thomas went to the facility, which opened yesterday, after experiencing chest pains.
Communications coordinator Lisa Ringle (left) and licensed practical nurses |
BY JIM HALL
The new emergency room in Spotsylvania County has doctors, nurses, exam rooms and parking for ambulances out back.
The CT scanner and stat lab are down the hallway from the lobby. Turn right at reception for triage and results-waiting.
The ER that MediCorp Health System opened yesterday looks like its cousins at Mary Washington Hospital and Stafford Hospital Center.
But it's different, too.
There are no patient rooms upstairs, no cath lab for heart attacks, and no trauma surgeons to alert when a Code Orange is called.
The region's newest ER is freestanding, tethered to its parent hospital in Fredericksburg but also almost five miles away.
The idea is "to get out and provide care where the people live," said Walt Kiwall, MediCorp's executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Kiwall and a number of other MediCorp and county officials helped cut the ribbon for the new facility yesterday.
Within minutes of opening, the first two patients arrived, one by ambulance and the other a walk-in. By 4 p.m., 10 people had been treated.
The new ER is a 24/7 operation, located in the Lee's Hill section of the county, within sight of Interstate 95 and down the hill from HCA's soon-to-open Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center.
It's also in the middle of Spotsylvania's busiest emergency response district, where about one-third of all emergency calls originate.
"If there's an opportunity that the patient's going to be treated and released, then this is a good opportunity for us," said Chris Eudailey, chief of the county's Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management department.
"We'll drop the patient off and be able to turn our units around a lot quicker," Eudailey added.
Several types of patients will still be routed to Mary Washington: trauma patients, those burned or having heart attacks or strokes, those who will need admission, and women more than 20 weeks' pregnant.
But the others, including those with the flu, can go to the freestanding ER.
Hospital officials expect to treat about 50 patients a day at the start. Mary Washington's ER sees 300 a day. Stafford treats about 125.
"I think you're going to see more than predicted," said Gary Skinner, who represents the area on the county Board of Supervisors. "It's just a matter of once people know it's open."
In eight months, when the HCA hospital opens, county residents will have a choice for emergency care.
Said Skinner, "I have no doubt in my mind that HCA will be full, and this will be full."
Jim Hall: 540/374-5433
Email: jhall@freelancestar.com
| LOCATION: 10401 Spotsylvania Ave. in Lee's Hill, across from Hooters. HOURS: 24 hours a day, seven days a week. TREATMENT ROOMS: 11 DOCTORS: Same ER group that staffs Mary Washington Hospital and Stafford Hospital Center. SERVICES: Full-service ER, with lab and imaging. PATIENTS: Open to all, though the seriously ill and injured, and those who need to be admitted should go to MWH. TRANSFERS: A Lifecare ambulance crew will do transfers to MWH at no cost to the patient. TRANSPORTS: Ambulance crews will transport patients to the closest appropriate facility. In many instances in Spotsylvania and Caroline counties, this will be the freestanding ER. |
