Hospital’s concierges there to ease wait

Published 9:37 pm Saturday, August 25, 2007

EDMONDS — Hear the word ‘concierge’ and you probably think swanky downtown Seattle hotel.

So what’s a hospital doing hiring people with the same job title for its emergency room?

Stevens Hospital says it wants a “go to” person on staff 24 hours a day to help answer questions from people in the waiting room.

Visitors will see the new waiting room staff beginning Monday. Standing behind a desk, they will be dressed in office attire instead of medical scrubs.

“We want to make people more comfortable,” said Linda Christensen, vice president of nursing.

The average time wait time at the emergency room is about three hours. But on busy days, that can stretch out for four to six hours, Christensen said.

The addition of an emergency room concierge is aimed at letting people know that “we didn’t forget about them and we apologize for any wait,” she said.

The hospital employees will get answers for patients and their families on how long their wait might be. Or why that ambulance that just pulled up to the back door means the wait might be a little longer.

Staff also might offer coffee or water to people to break up the wait. Or take patients back to a room where staff can administer a blood test to get the first step in their emergency room visit under way, Christensen said.

This is one of the changes being made in the hospital’s emergency room, which treats up to 100 people a day.

The waiting room is also receiving a $250,000 makeover, including a new children’s area and new furniture and flooring, said Jack Kirkman, hospital spokesman.

Some of the money also will be used to add office space so paramedics and other emergency personnel can have a place to fill out paperwork and have a cup of coffee, Kirkman said.

The upgrades are expected to be finished by Oct. 1.

The hospital is considering if steps can be taken to expand the emergency department’s treatment areas, Kirkman said.

The department treats about 44,000 people a year and “our space was designed to handle a little less than half of that,” he said.

Suggestions on what can be done are expected in the next month, Kirkman said.