Unanimously agreeing with a lower court’s decision, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals announced August 10 that it had ruled in favor of the Certificate of Need issued to Brookwood Medical Center for a freestanding emergency department proposed for U.S. 280 at Highway 119.

 “We’re very pleased with this decision,” Stephen Preston, VP of External Affairs at Brookwood Medical Center, said. “When we began talking with people in this area several years ago, they told us that what they needed most was faster access to emergency services. Driving through 280 traffic can be difficult enough for emergency services responding to a traffic accident. You can only imagine what it would be like in a car with a loved one who is having chest pains or heavy bleeding.

“The location we’re proposing is southeast of most of the congestion.  It will mean a lot for people who live in that direction, especially since it will be the nearest emergency department this side of Sylacauga. “

The appeal of the Certificate of Need was filed on behalf of Trinity Medical Center, whose plans to move to the 280 area received final clearance in an Alabama Supreme Court decision issued earlier this year.  At press time, no announcement had been made as to whether Trinity intends to appeal the Brookwood case to the state supreme court.

If there are no further appeals, the way will be clear to build Alabama’s first freestanding emergency department.  

“Once we receive final approval, we hope to begin construction as soon as possible and to have the facility ready to open in about a year,” Preston said. “The licensing rules that the State Committee of Public Health approved July 17 for freestanding ED’s have set the bar at a high level, and we’re glad to see that. Our new facility will have the same high level of emergency care available 24/7 as you would find in our hospital emergency department.”

With more than 19,000 square feet on one level, the freestanding emergency department will have 12 exam rooms and will be fully equipped with the same capabilities and facilities found in a hospital-based emergency department.

“We’ll be fully staffed with board certified emergency medicine physicians, lab services, pharmacy and full diagnostics, including CT, MRI, X-Ray and ultrasound. We’ll also have triage protocols to facilitate and coordinate transfer if needed. For example, if a patient needs a heart cath, we’ll have our team setting up at the hospital while they are in route so time isn’t lost in delays,” Preston said.

Brad Williams, Supervisor of Planning/Data Director of the Alabama State Health Planning and Development Agency, said that in addition to the Certificate of Need issued to Brookwood Medical Center in 2010, both Baptist Medical Center Princeton and Medical West, a UAB affiliate, were issued Certificates of Need in November of 2012 for freestanding emergency departments they plan to open in the Hoover area.

“Freestanding emergency departments have been operating for a while in other parts of the country, “Williams said. “They are usually found either in areas where the distance to a hospital is a problem, or along the perimeter of urban areas where traffic patterns and congestion can delay travel to a hospital.”

For some patients, the time saved getting to emergency care has made a critical difference in outcomes. Where there may be a need for fine tuning is in educating patients to understand the difference between urgent care centers and freestanding emergency departments and when to go where.

While urgent care centers are set up to provide care similar to that found in a doctor’s office, freestanding emergency departments are staffed and equipped the same as they would be in a hospital to handle serious emergencies around the clock, so charges are likely to be higher.

However, in a true emergency, when every minute counts, having ready access to the full capabilities of state-of- the-art emergency care can make a life-saving difference.