Family matters... - Excelsior Springs

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Excelsior Springs Medical Center • www.esmc.org • We’re More Than Just A Hospital
Expansion and renovation will improve emergency care
Your 6-year-old just woke you
up in the middle of the night with a
severe ear ache and high fever.
What do you do? If you live in the
greater Excelsior Springs area, you
are like the 6,500 people last year
who headed for Excelsior Springs
Medical Center’s Emergency
Room.
The staff at ESMC’s Emergency
Room is prepared to treat
trauma injuries ranging from broken
bones, lacerations, and sprains
to infectious diseases, respiratory
tract infections, cardiac disease and
plumonary disease. The Emergency
Room may be the first stop in health
care treatment and it may mean the
difference between life and death.
“Open 24-hours-a day, seven
days a week, the ER is staffed by
Providing
focused
care --
Individualized
care is provided
to patients
by a team
of dedicated
and skilled
health professionals
who are
experts in specific
areas of
rehabilitation.
experienced physicians and a good
nursing staff,” said Tom Dotson,
DO, who has worked in ESMC’s
Emergency Room for 12 years.
According to a report by the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), the average
waiting time to see an emergency
room physician was 45 minutes. At
ESMC’s Emergency Room, studies
have shown the average waiting
time for patients is much less, at 15
minutes, with many patients being
moved through the ER within 30 to
40 minutes.
“It’s not unusual to have four
or five people at a time in the Emergency
Room for treatment,” said
Dr. Dotson. “There is the potential
to get overcrowded very quickly.”
ESMC’s Emergency Room will
Rehabilitation Services
Working together with the patient and family, the rehabilitation team provides
an assessment and develops a coordinated plan of care, with the goal
of utilizing each patient’s individual strengths and abilities to achieve the
maximum level of independence.
Rehabilitation services at Excelsior Springs Medical Center provide individualized
care for both patients admitted to the hospital and those who receive
care as outpatients.
For More Information Contact 816-630-6081, ext. 386.
Tom Dotson, DO, left, has worked in the ESMC ER for 12 years. Lawrence
Lim, MD, right, has worked in the ESMC ER for 10 years.
soon have the capacity to continue
providing quality emergency services
well into the future. A 27,000
sq. ft. addition to the Hospital includes
renovation of the Emergency
Room. (See page 3 for related article.)
The expansion will mean
staff can tend to patients in a more
effective manner.
When the project is complete,
emergency room space will double
and will include:
• additional patient beds
• private treatment rooms
• upgraded waiting area
• improved access for staff to
Radiology, Surgery, and Laboratory
departments.
Construction is expected to begin
in the spring.
Community responds with more
than $10,000 to charity care appeal
Excelsior Springs Medical Center
has experienced an increase of
almost 100% in charity care in the
last 12 months. The charity care in
our community was $111,000 in
2005 and over $213,000 in 2006.
“The Hospital does not have the
ability to continue to absorb these
types of uncompensated care increases,”
said Sally Nance, ESMC
CEO. “These dramatic increases are
indeed putting the whole Hospital
at risk.”
ESMC received a generous offer
from community members, who
challenged the Foundation Board to
raise at least $10,000 by January 15,
2007 and they would match the
contributions.
A total of $11,125 in donations
was raised, securing over $20,000
to help families in our community
without health insurance. We sincerely
thank these contributors.
If you would like to make a
donation to ESMC for charity care,
contact Jeanne Buckman at 816-
630-6081, ext. 365.