Memorial Health Meadows Hospital recently celebrated a milestone achieved through teamwork and operational improvements. The emergency and trauma team has sustained its average ER wait times below 15 minutes for the past 90 days.
“In an emergency, every second matters. If you or your child are ill or injured, waiting even minutes for help can feel like an eternity,” said Memorial Health Meadows Hospital CEO Matt Hasbrouck. “That’s why we’ve focused so hard to ensure that when you come to Meadows, your medical care is started very quickly.”
The wait time is defined as the amount of time it takes from when a person walks through the door of the emergency room to the time their medical care is started by a medical provider. “Our emergency department sees more than 30,000 visits each year and many of these patients are seriously ill and need to be seen right away,” said Hasbrouck. “Our team has worked hard to improve our processes and we’re really proud that we’re now consistently providing care in under 15 minutes.”
To hold itself to this high standard and ensure the community has confidence in the hospital’s commitment to care, Memorial Health Meadows Hospital will show its ER wait times very transparently – via their website (MemorialHealthMeadows.com) and digital billboard on its campus. In addition, the community can text “ER” to 32222 for the current average wait time.
“High-quality care will always remain our No. 1 priority,” said Hasbrouck. “We are responding to what we know our families want -- the best emergency care, delivered quickly. As a Level IV trauma center, we know there will be times that our ER wait times climb a bit higher due to delays when critical patients have to be seen first. However, due to strong operational processes, we are able to see patients much more quickly, helping them on the road to recovery or home more quickly, too.”
Memorial Health Meadows Hospital is a regional healthcare system featuring the only nationally accredited hospital in Montgomery, Toombs, Treutlen and Tattnall counties. Meadows Hospital has a Level IV trauma center and emergency department, a 15,000-square-foot cancer center and a network of physician practices that serve Vidalia and the surrounding communities. We offer the latest in medical advancements including cutting-edge cancer care, life-saving heart attack procedures, women’s services, wound care, orthopedic medicine and more. Memorial Health Meadows Hospital is part of the HCA Healthcare family, one of the nation's leading providers of healthcare services. HCA Healthcare is comprised of 185 hospitals and 2,000+ sites of care in 20 states and the United Kingdom. For more information visit www.memorialhealthmeadows.com.
