EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT
The level and the quality of emergency care provided by Yavapai Regional Medical Center’s Emergency Department continues to keep pace with the growing needs of the people and the communities YRMC serves. Just recently, YRMC completed a two-year, $6 million Emergency Department expansion project that:
- Increased the number of emergency beds from 11 to 18
- Tripled the amount of available space, to 17,000 square feet
- Added a wide range of new, state-of-the-art technology
- Increased the number of “Fast Track” beds from two to six
- Reduced the waiting time and stress associated with an ER visit
- Allowed YRMC to offer faster and more efficient emergency care
The population of the YRMC service area has been growing rapidly, with a parallel increase in the number of YRMC emergency patients. In 1995, the hospital treated approximately 21,000 emergency patients. By 2004, that number had risen to more than 42,000 patients, who were being treated for everything from life-threatening injuries and illness to less serious conditions like sore throats and abrasions.
The YRMC Emergency Department is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by specially trained physicians and nurses who are committed to providing the best possible care to all patients in all types of emergencies.
FAST TRACK
Yavapai Regional Medical Center is committed to providing all patients with the best possible care in the most efficient way possible. In the hospital’s Emergency Department, a “fast track” system is used to reduce the waiting time for patients—with no reduction in the quality of care.
When a patient enters the emergency room, he or she is evaluated and then registered as either “emergency” or “fast track.” The evaluation process is based on well-established national guidelines and criteria, plus the experience and the opinions of the nurses who perform the patient evaluations.
Patients with conditions like sore throats, rashes and relatively minor abrasions and cuts are assigned to one of six fast track beds and are treated as quickly as possible. Patients with more complicated or serious problems—such as life-threatening illnesses or major injuries—also benefit, because the fast track system improves the Emergency Department’s overall efficiency.