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ED Tracks Increase in Patients Due to Urgent Care Clinic
The number of patients seen in the Deaconess emergency department has increased 19 percent over last year, according to recent hospital statistics. And 24 percent of those patients were seen in the new Deaconess Urgent Care Clinic.
"This is a significant increase in our total number of patients from last year," said Nola Duncan, RN, director of cardiac, surgery and ambulatory services. " We wouldn’t have been able to accommodate this growth without the urgent care concept."
Through July of this year, 20,576 patients have received care in the Deaconess ED. This compares with 16,555 patients during the same time frame last year. In July of this year alone, 2,500 patients were seen and out of those, 625 were treated in the urgent care clinic.
The Deaconess Urgent Care Clinic is open seven days a week, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Patients with minor illnesses or injuries are seen more rapidly in the urgent care clinic and receive treatment right away. Emergency care patients with the most critical illnesses and injuries are given top priority. Many of these patients arrive by ambulance and may need to be seen first.
There are currently no plans to provide emergency services in the Bethany at Deaconess facility.
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