With major renovations complete and a 30-minute emergency department guarantee, Methodist South Hospital in Whitehaven wants to show how serious it is about reducing emergency department wait times and improving the whole emergency department experience for its patients.  That makes it the only  hospital in Memphis to offer a 30- minute guarantee from the time patients register to the time they are seen by a doctor, nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant. 

“Our community deserves the best care in emergency service, because every minute is precious,” said Michael Ugwueke, DHA, FACHE, Chief Executive Officer and Administrator of Methodist South Hospital.

Over the last several months, the hospital has done $7 million in renovations and equipment upgrades, $350,000 of which was for emergency department renovations that were just completed.  Other renovations included the second and third floor medical-surgical floors and the cafeteria.  Earlier this year Methodist South installed a state-of-the-art VCT (Volume Computed Tomography) system, arming doctors with some of the clearest and most detailed images of the carotid and coronary arteries to diagnose disease and life-threatening illnesses, including cardiovascular disease, stroke and chest pain.

“Our goal is for every single patient to be seen by a physician within 30 minutes.  If there is an instance when we do not meet our standard, patients will receive a $20 gift card redeemable at our hospital gift shop and a letter of apology from me,” said Dr. Ugwueke.

Methodist South has been working to improve its emergency department for several months.  Renovations include moving the existing triage room and adding two more.  Triage is a process used by emergency departments that allows a nurse to quickly assess patients to ensure the sickest patients are seen first. 

“Having three triage areas will really speed up our ability to get patients back to the treatment rooms to get the care they need,” said Charlotte Ramsey, Chief Nursing Officer for Methodist South. 

Ramsey said other improvements include a new registration desk, areas for bedside registration clerks and new work stations for case management workers and patient care coordinators, and a security station. Patients will also be given “coaster pagers” upon check-in that will light up when it is their turn, similar to those devices used in many restaurants.  New flooring, paint, XM satellite radio and a plasma TV with information to help patients better understand the emergency department processes round out the improvements.

“Our emergency department patients are very important to us,” said Dr. Ugwueke.  “We want to ensure that every patient receives outstanding care as quickly as possible.” 

Methodist South had 37,541 emergency department visits in 2006, and patient volume is up signficantly in 2007.

“These changes will greatly enhance our ability to treat patients efficiently and quickly, said Clyde Brown, M.D., medical director of the Methodist South emergency department.  “The emergency department physicians have been impressed with the teamwork involved to make patient care here even better.”

Methodist South took a thorough look at all emergency department processes, including ambulance flow and is working with other departments to achieve success.  A daily meeting is now held with a team representing emergency, lab, radiology and other departments to assess patient care for the day prior and identify any additional opportunities for improvement.

“This has truly been a team effort and there are many people at Methodist South to thank,” said Dr. Ugwueke.  “However, the true beneficiary of all this work is the patient who walks through our emergency door and is treated quickly and with dignity and respect.”

It has been a banner year for Methodist South, as these improvements come on the heels of Methodist South’s recognition earlier this year by Premier healthcare alliance with the 2007 Premier Award for Quality for excellence in the care of patients in the area of Maternal and Neonatal Care (Pregnancy).