The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
New Emergency Department debuts at UH Richmond Medical Center
The University Hospitals Richmond Medical Center Emergency Department’s upgrade is now complete.
Beginning in November 2017 and concluding at the end of April, the $1 million renovation and reconfiguration project includes more beds — 19, up from 12 — six of them being Fast Track beds, and chest pain accreditation for cardiac care.
University Hospitals Health System provided
the funds to meet the needs of the patients, said Brian Adams, manager, business and ambulatory development.
The UH Richmond Emergency Department, at 27100 Chardon Road in Richmond Heights, also boasts a more spacious waiting area, new flooring, cosmetic enhancements, and a new nurses’ station and physicians’ area with a glass enclosure.
The new emergency department uses the Fast Track system, implemented in November 2017, resulting in a 30 percent decline in time from patient entry to discharge.
The system was first piloted at UH Ahuja Medical Center in Beachwood.
Fast Track is an innovated approach to emergency care that puts patients with more minor injuries, such as sore throats and sprained ankles, on a separate “track” so they’re seen, treated and discharged quickly.
Emergency Department Assistant Manager Haley Sloan said the project has been wonderful.
“It’s huge. The bulk of the money in the project went to our Fast Track area, built literally from the ground up. It was an old wound care area that sat vacant, actually. Architects and project managers created this six-bed Fast Track area. Now, the emergency department triage area has a clear line of sight to the waiting room, located right behind registration, allowing clear communication.
“The renovation is also a huge decompressor for the emergency department because you’d get bottlenecked with only 12 beds,” Sloan said. “We see on average 65 patients a day, so this helps tremendously. We maintain patient flow so much better, and they love it. Our patient population, they know us — their parents and grandparents have been coming here. They’re local. Honestly, I think our patient population was almost happier about the construction than we were. They knew how badly we needed it just as much as we did, so this has been a wonderful addition.”
Sloan added that the biggest feeders for the hospital’s emergency department are Richmond Heights, Euclid, Willoughby, Willoughby Hills, Willowick, and occasionally Mentor and Cleveland.
Operations at the hospital were maintained throughout construction, also, she said.
“It was a logistical waltz, to say the least, with the emergency department management and construction teams basically maintaining, day-by-day, to allow the work, and also for us to maintain safe and quality patient care. It was very challenging, but it was needed and long overdue.”
The new emergency department measures 5,324 square feet, with the Fast Track area measuring 1,349 square feet.
“This is an important day for us,” said Brian Monter, UH regional president (Richmond Heights, Bedford). “The very fundamental part of our mission is to make sure we’re providing exceptional care in meeting the health care needs of this community. And for so many folks in our community, this emergency room is their first contact with health care — it truly is our front door to this hospital.
“Twenty-four thousand patients a year come through these doors, and of those patients, about 85 percent wind up in a bed upstairs. With the improvements we’ve made, not only in aesthetics and appearance, but in adding the new Fast Track area, we’ve improved efficiency and quality. At the end of the day, it’s improving outcomes in the total experience for all of our patients seeking care.”