Quote:
Originally Posted by Bambi
Last week I went to the new free standing ER (it is not a Urgent Care) on 441 next to Spruce Creek - across from Camping World.
From the moment I walked in until discharge, I was treated promptly and with great courtesy by all the staff members. The doctor explained everything and spent quite a bit of time with me reviewing the results of the tests.
It is owned by Ocala Regional Hospital and is an extension of the ER on the main campus. Ocala Regional is the level two trauma hospital for our area. If you have to be admitted, if possible they will send you to your hospital of choice although they generally admit to their hospital. Again, it is not an Urgent Care but an actually well staffed and equipped ER with scanning capacity, etc.
I asked if they were busy when I walked in and it was affirmative with apologies because I waited about five minutes to be taken to a bed. Within ten minutes I was hooked up for an EKG, Dr in the room, chest X-ray and labs drawn even tho my main complaint was not chest pain.
I am a retired RN and have never seen a unit run as efficiently as this ER. I didn't count them, but it looked like they had at least 10-12 private rooms. It is a large building. Highly recommend.
|
Sounds pretty good. They do have several advantages that make it (and places like it) a more attractive and efficient place
1) They do not have to hold patients waiting for a bed on a floor to open up----just make an ER to ER transfer in accordance with COBRA laws and pack them off in an ambulance.
2) National ER admission rates average 13%, their admission rate is probably less than 2%, so less work messing with admissions
3) They do not have ambulances arriving every 10-15 minutes
4) The REALLY, REALLY sick patients tend not to go there, so the severity of illness is less
5) As far as staffing goes, as long as they are running it as a separate entity, they do not have to worry about less than optimal workers with a lot of seniority bidding for the jobs there, which tend to be more desirable, so they can pick and choose who they hire.
6) They are NEW, so the equipment and facility are modern, they can write policies and procedures that suit the place, and there hasn't been enough time for the staff to develop its own "culture", which far too often is a culture of laziness.
As an aside, I've always favored eliminating the solid walls and doors between the waiting room and the ER treatment area. Yes, you need to keep the patient rooms out of sight, but I think the common areas should be in view. If you think the people are angry when they wait in the ER now, just imagine if they could see the staff talking, giggling, sitting with their feet up on the desk, reading a book, surfing the web or even napping while they wait. If you don't think those things happen, think again.