Almost 40,000 people who used the services of Doylestown Hospital last year had visits that were unplanned and, undoubtedly, filled with anxiety. That’s because these visitors – including approximately 8,000 infants and children – came through the doors of the Emergency Department (ED) needing immediate care.

Follow-up surveys with ED patients confirm that the medical care we deliver gets consistently high marks, but patients do cite space limitations and other shortcomings of the actual facility as negatives in their overall ED experience. One look at the numbers explains why.

“The last expansion of the ED was in 1991,” says AnnMarie Papa,MSN, RN, CEN, FAEN,Director of Emergency Services at Doylestown Hospital. “Since then we’ve seen a 73 percent increase in the number of emergency visits. The recent closing of Warminster Hospital’s ED has added approximately 10 more patients a day.Our community depends upon a first-rate facility that can quickly meet their emergency medical needs,” Papa continues, “and the groundbreaking this spring for Doylestown Hospital’s new ED is a big step in that direction.”

Planning with community input
As part of the planning process for the new Emergency Department, the hospital sought input from former ED patients to learn their perceptions and feelings regarding their overall ED experience. “We gained some very valuable information that we’ve used not only in the design of the new ED, but also in our current day-to-day operations,” says Jim Brownlow, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Doylestown Hospital. “Looking at our operations from the viewpoint of the people we serve is a vital part of continuous improvement and future planning.”

This input, along with overall strategic objectives for the delivery of hospital services, resulted in a plan that calls for replacing the existing 17-room ED with a dramatically expanded unit featuring 40 private treatment rooms.

Additionally, the new design will:

Creating a healing environment
Over the next 20-24 months, steel beams, bricks, and mortar will certainly be the most obvious outward signs of progress in the construction of the new ED. However, there are other aspects of the design – and the philosophy – of the new facility that have a different emphasis. “It’s really not about the building,” says Papa. “It’s about the processes – the ways the new ED will enable us to make the experience of visiting the ER more calming, more comfortable, and more patient-friendly. We’re creating an atmosphere that will be more conducive to healing,” she continues. “And that’s really what we’re all about.”

Future issues of Dialogue will examine features of the new ED in more detail and reveal how this new approach to delivering emergency care will improve the experience of everyone coming through the doors of our new facility.