Medical assessment units free beds, provide quicker access
June 29, 2010
Providing more timely treatment
Wait time doesn’t need to be wasted time.
Patients awaiting admission to an inpatient ward at Calgary’s Rockyview General Hospital are being transferred out of the emergency department and into a medical assessment unit, where physicians and nurses initiate consultations, treatment and diagnostics.
The 12-bed medical assessment unit was launched in February 2010; a second, 15-bed unit is expected to open in Fall 2010 at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton. Both are demonstration projects.
Patients typically stay in a medical assessment unit between 24 and 48 hours.
“We can then move these patients to the most appropriate inpatient unit or discharge them home with appropriate community supports, as needed,” says Kathy Schultz, director of medical services at Rockyview hospital.
These units free up treatment space in crowded emergency departments and reduce the amount of time our patients wait to begin treatment.
Experiences at the Rockyview General Hospital and the Royal Alexandra Hospital will be shared as medical assessment units are considered in more hospitals across the province.
See video: www.albertahealthservices.ca/1436.asp
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