Challenge
Located near the New Jersey Shore, and one of the largest non-teaching EDs on the East Coast, Community Medical Center’s ED was operating beyond capacity. Designed for 45,000 patients per year, Community Medical Center’s Emergency Department was actually treating over 100,000 patients per year.
Solution
To provide a “no-wait ED,” our client estimated a need for 120 exam rooms. Landlocked by two major highways which limited expansion, we looked for other opportunities to increase efficiency. We discovered a large percentage of their cases fell into two categories: pediatric “cuts and scrapes,” and older patients experiencing heartburn or indigestion who feared they were having a heart attack.
Result
To increase throughput and efficiency, we designed four clinical treatment pods with private rooms grouped around a central triage suite. This allowed the ED to open a fast-track pod to address the pediatric and geriatric census fluctuation. The ED was designed to be a “mini-hospital within a hospital” with a full complement of diagnostic imaging equipment.
Collaborators
Barr & Barr Construction
Desman Associates
Highland Associates
Photo Credit: Jeffrey Totaro
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