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New hospital unit introduced
February 25, 2010
Learn how medical assessment units can improve emergency department access and patient flow.
A new medical unit is being introduced within Alberta Health Services in an effort to provide more timely treatment for patients waiting for hospital admission.
Rockyview General Hospital in Calgary launched the province’s first medical assessment unit in February as a demonstration initiative.
The 12-bed space is a transition point between the emergency department and the inpatient unit for patients awaiting hospital admission.
Now consultations, treatments and diagnostics can start in the medical assessment unit, providing care to patients sooner while freeing beds in emergency.
“We want to ensure patients are taken care of safely and that their inpatient admission and treatment plan begins immediately instead of delayed by a lengthy stay in the emergency department,” says Teresa Thurber, manager of the medical assessment unit.
Typically, patients will remain in a medical assessment unit for 24 to 48 hours.
“We can then move these patients to the most appropriate inpatient unit or discharge them home,” says Kathy Schultz, director of medical services at Rockyview.
A second medical assessment unit is scheduled to open at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton in May.
Dr. Thomas Tam, the acute care division chief of family medicine in the Calgary area, says patients won’t notice any difference between being cared for in a medical assessment unit or in an inpatient unit. The staffing and level of care will be the same.
The impact on the system, however, could be significant.
“Across the province, we’re seeing greater number of patients in our emergency departments. Medical assessment units are designed to prevent gridlock by improving patient flow and reducing wait times,” says Tam.
Beginning care earlier often leads to reduced length of stay – and this, too, can have a dramatic impact across the system, says Dr. Grant Innes, clinical department head of emergency medicine in the Calgary area.
“Even a four- or six-hour difference in hospital length of stay can save hundreds of hospital beds every year for patients who really need them,” he says.
Experiences at the Rockyview General Hospital and the Royal Alexandra Hospital will be shared as medical assessment units will be considered in more hospitals across the province.
