EVERETT — He can’t fully explain it, but it is definitely welcome.
Dr. John Milne oversees the new Swedish/Mill Creek emergency room. Since the Feb. 17 opening, the number of patients who have chosen to use the new 24-hour facility — which is not physically attached to a hospital — have bl
own away original projections and prompted hiring additional staff.
“We were budgeting for about 20 to 25 patients per day and hired staff and physicians to be at about that level,” Milne said. “Instead, we’re running at about 70 patients a day right now — close to three times what we though
t was the volume.”
Milne has spoken with colleagues at Swedish/Edmonds Medical Center and with competitor Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, but they said they had not seen a noticeable change in their volumes over the same period.
Milne is cautious in his optimism. He is quick to point out that there still isn’t enough data to demonstrate whether the trends are related to seasonal variability — more people being active, outdoors and suffering sports and recreation injuries — or if this is this a sustained level of need. Only time will tell.
Overall, he believes there was a definite need for emergency services in this part of Snohomish County, in south Everett and Mill Creek. Before, people requiring a 24-hour emergency room had three choices: Cascade Valley Hospital in Arlington, Providence Regional Medical Center Everett or Swedish/Edmonds Medical Center. There was nothing really close to this area.
Not only is new emergency room close to neighborhoods that have not previously had ready 24-hour emergency access, it sits next to I-5 in south Everett, where the Puget Park Drive-in theater stood for years.
Another draw to the new facility is the “no-wait” promotional promise of getting patients in and out within 90 minutes. Even with the unexpected number of people using the emergency room, Milne said, they’ve been able to keep close to those original goals.
“We’re running about 85 minutes average in terms of the total length of stay for people in the emergency department,” he said. “We have not had situations where people are backed up into the lobby and still waiting for rooms.”
There are some times when a serious emergency, such as a stroke, can occupy additional staff and slow things down, but the goal is to expedite all patient care, including the ER.
Because the emergency room is a stand-alone facility, any serious medical cases requiring a hospital stay are transferred to Swedish/Edmonds or Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.
“But we’ve had a really strong working relationship with Providence Everett,” Milne said. “I’ve got nothing but great things to say about their process internally, in terms of how they accept transfers. It’s been very smooth.”
Milne describes his campus as having caught its breath. Staff members have adjusted to the unexpected volume and know that they are still just at 50 percent of the capacity that the facility was built to handle. There is plenty of room to expand without the need for new construction.
Staff to handle the unexpected volume is now in place. At peak hours during the day, there are two physicians on duty at any given time and as many as five nurses, two technicians, a unit secretary, three registration staff, security and a social worker.
This is in addition to the primary care and specialty care offices and diagnostics center elsewhere in the three-story structure. But it’s the emergency department that is the focus of the campus.
“This is a portal to get people to the right care at the right time, more than just an emergency department,” Milne said.
M.L. Dehm is a freelance writer.
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