Connecticut hospital is an option for Mass. residents
By Sarah M. Corigliano
Assistant Managing Editor
STAFFORD SPRINGS, CONN. If you've ever spent hours at a local hospital's Emergency Room with a non-life-threatening injury and wondered if you have any other options -- it turns out that you do.
"For many people, we're an unknown resource," explained Tom O'Brien of Johnson Memorial Hospital's (JMH) Development and Community Relations department. "We don't have the wait times similar at larger medical institutions and we're convenient to a lot of border towns of Massachusetts ... once [new patients] come here, they realize we're a top-notch hospital."
Hospital officials are in the midst of a fund-raising campaign to expand their Emergency Department. One feature that exists now and will be expanded is their "E.D. Express" service.
Dr. Charles Bizilj, Medical Director of the Emergency Department at JMH, explained that his department has been able to help many patients get in and out of the Emergency Department in 90 minutes or less. In fact, he said often times it takes only 50 minutes.
Bizilj said examples of patients who would be treated through the E.D. Express are those who have a "clean diagnosis and a nice, clean discharge plan." Some such cases might include minor cuts, scrapes, and burns; sprains and other injuries that can be clearly diagnosed and treated in the 90-minute window.
He added that x-rays are also read in the Emergency Department in order to speed diagnoses.
"We are in the 98th percentile for this type of service," he said. On average, he said 35 percent of JMH's E.D. patients go to the E.D. Express.
"The E.D. Express is consistently number one in patient satisfaction," he said. "There is a real difference between an emergency department that sees 100,000 patients in a year and Johnson Memorial Hospital."
However, even though their small size has been a benefit to the facility and the communities it serves, hospital officials and Bizilj said the expansion is necessary to continue to best serve their patients as residential and commercial development in the area has placed a larger demand on the hospital.
In 1985, JMH's E.D. saw just over 5,000 patients. In 1995 they saw about 12,000. Last year, that number jumped to just under 20,000.
The Future of the E.D.
Bizilj said he is excited about the future of JMH's E.D. and he has been involved in the planning process for the expanded department.
"Our goal is to be the first hospital in the area where no patient ever waits in a waiting room," he said. "It's the Holy Grail of all emergency departments."
In order to accomplish this, he said the Emergency Department would have to refresh every system it has and rethink how it does everything from lab orders to patient tracking.
Some features of the new E.D., which will more than double the size of the current facility, include separate areas for different types of cases.
For example, there will be rooms set aside for E.D. Express patients, six observation rooms, three trauma/resuscitation rooms, five behavioral health rooms and a special room in the case of sexual assault. There will also be 14 general exam rooms. Nurse stations will be disbursed throughout the department. There will also be pediatric-specific rooms which will be designed to be kid-friendly.
Bizilj said the hospital plans to break ground on the project in spring 2006.
Maintaining and expanding current services
In the meantime, however, they continue to service patients to the best of their abilities in the current facility.
"[JMH's E.D.] has been recognized by the Chief of Cardiology at Hartford Hospital as having the smoothest systems in the region for setting up acute heart attack patients for the cath lab 'pipe line'," added Development and Community Relations Director Lois Skala.
She explained that, when a cardiac patient at JMH requires a cath lab, the E.D. stages, stabilizes and transfers the patient by helicopter or ambulance to the cath lab at Hartford Hospital.
Bizilj said he hopes to expand their current pipeline for the stroke center, as well.
He explained that 90 percent of hospitals nationwide are the size of JMH or smaller, and that the next best thing to having a stroke center or cath lab is having a streamlined system to getting patients to those services.
"I'm very proud of how well we work with Hartford Hospital," he said.
Looking at things differently
In addition to expanding the space of the E.D. and existing systems, Bizilj said the hospital's approach to emergency care will also change a bit.
"We're going to take a holistic approach to health in the E.D.," he said. "Every patient will be in individual, private rooms, which promotes good health."
He said there will also be an abundance of natural light, including a window to the outside in each room.
"We want to build on the concept of Stafford Springs -- it was the first health spa in the country," he added. Since water and sunlight have healing power, he said this idea will also be seen in the fountain in the E.D.'s new atrium.
Bizilj said the JMH E.D. staffs six full time doctors, all of who have three to 15 years' experience. Fifteen to 20 percent of the hospital's staff comes from Massachusetts, he said, as well as a "measurable portion" of patients.
"I would trust my life and my family's lives to every doctor in this E.D.," he added.
Patients who wish to be seen at Johnson Memorial Hospital's Emergency Department simply must request that the ambulance bring them there. In life-threatening situations or times when one E.D. might be overloaded, this choice might not be available. However, Bizilj pointed out that insurance is never an issue, as it is the law for insurances nationwide to pay for E.D. visits regardless of residency.
Making the expanded E.D.
a reality
JMH has hosted several recent events to help pay for the Emergency Department's expansion, including a fashion show and auction. They also offer gift plans in many denominations and in memory of loved ones, any of which can be designated for a particular part of the expanded E.D. Payment plans are also available for those wishing to support the expansion.
For more information, call Johnson Memorial Hospital's Development Fund, Inc. at 860-684-8109 or go to www.jmhosp.org. Johnson Memorial Hospital is located at 201 Chestnut Hill Rd., Stafford Springs, Connecticut.
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