Emergency Department
What can you expect walking through the door of the Ashe Memorial Hospital Emergency Department? A friendly, professional staff trained and ready to help, to treat an illness or injury, and even save a life. As patients enter the Emergency Department, the first thing they see is the reception desk where they will inform the person on duty if they need to be seen. The receptionist calls back to the medical staff to inform them of the patient’s complaint and sends the patient to the triage room. The triage room is located just inside the second set of sliding doors, where the patient will be evaluated and assigned the acuity grade for level of emergency. Those determined to have a non-urgent acuity grade will go back through the sliding doors to reception to register. Those determined to have an urgent acuity grade will go directly to a room where they will be seen by a Physician’s Assistant (P.A.) or Physician.
“The staff will put a chart together, and if the emergency is urgent, the physician is right there,” said Kina Jones, R.N., Emergency Department Nurse Manager. “Urgent” emergencies, Jones explained, included chest pain, severe abdominal pain, severe laceration, breathing problems, any condition that could be life or death. A “non-urgent” condition could be a sore throat, kidney infection, or minor rash. Those sent back to reception to register to fill out the required paperwork, and this doesn’t take long, said Jones, even if the patient is not already in the hospital system. If rooms are available, said Jones, the non-urgent patients can go on back. If they must go back to reception, the medical staff keeps a check on them. If someone else comes in with an urgent condition, that person will be seen first. If the condition is serious, the patient can be admitted to the hospital from the Emergency Department or transferred to another facility. Because the Emergency Department also serves as the hospital Admitting Area, patients are admitted or discharged through this department.
When coming to the Emergency Department, patients need to bring with them with a list of medications they are currently taking and insurance cards. Having the medicine information is important to the medical staff because pharmacists and physicians may not be available to provide that information if needed. What about the bill? Jones said that on discharge, the patient is asked about insurance and if there is a co-pay the patient is asked to pay that amount. If the patient cannot pay the co-pay at that time, they will be asked to see the patient financial counselor, June Williams, during the day or be given a form with her name and number in order to call and make an appointment. Because the Emergency Department is also the entrance to the hospital at night, all visitors MUST sign in and be admitted with permission. Visiting hours at the hospital are 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
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