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VEPMG Announces Reduction of Average ER Waiting Time of Less Than 30 Minutes at Woodland Healthcare
Jul 26th, 07
30 Minutes or Less: Woodland ER Cuts Wait
Written by Deborah Hoffman, Reporter
On Thursday morning, Maria Martinez brought her father to Woodland Heathcare's emergency room after suffering a stroke. It wasn't their first trip to an ER. "In the past, we would wait for hours," said Martinez.
But this time was different. "This has really changed," said Martinez. "I can see that they really care and we were helped really fast."
The hospital is in the midst of a $40 million hospital improvement project. Hospital President Kevin Vaziri said $1.5 million of that has been spent to upgrade the emergency room.
"About three years ago, we got some feedback from the community that they were very interested in seeing improvements in our emergency room and, specifically, the wait time being too long," said Vaziri. "Adding rooms to the emergency room was simply too costly."
So the hospital decided to take a number of other, more cost-effective steps. A storage room has been transformed into a four-bed triage area, where patients are assessed upon their arrival.
Electronic Medical Records allow medical staff to access a patient's medical history instantly. Digital x-rays produce images immediately. An automated medical dispensing machine, which works much like a vending machine, eliminates the need to order and wait for medication to be delivered from the pharmacy.
Physician's Assistant Marc Hudock said the changes have made a world of difference.
"Patients are incredibly happy when they come in and they expect to be seen in 2 or 3 hours," Hudock said. "The wait is now down to 20 minutes or 30 minutes."
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