Overcrowded emergency rooms and ambulance diversion are problems around the country, and Birmingham is no exception. Recent approval for the construction of freestanding emergency departments (FEDs) in the Birmingham area may begin to help the problem, especially in high traffic areas of the city.
About 30 states currently have FEDs, but the two FED projects in Birmingham are the first in Alabama. Medical West has broken ground on its FED at Highway 150 and Interstate 459, and Brookwood Medical Center is expecting an August completion of its FED at the intersection of U.S. 280 and Highway 119. The two entities have worked together on the development of these projects.
“This has been a collaborative effort between Brookwood and Medical West, because we want the same things. We hope these new freestanding emergency room facilities coming to the market can take some of the load off of hospital emergency rooms,” says Stephen Preston, Vice President of External Affairs for Brookwood Medical Center. “With the construction of this new FED, we are taking emergency care to patients, and response time is critical. Our FED should help alleviate some of the overcrowding.”
The Medical West FED will offer the same quality of service provided by its existing emergency room and emergency physicians in Bessemer, including convenient outpatient diagnostic services. Hospital officials project between 12,000-15,000 emergency visits per year at the new facility which is slated for a spring 2015 opening.
“This facility will allow us to provide emergency care for area residents closer to home, and the location will provide easier access to care,” says Keith Pennington, Chief Executive Officer and President of Medical West. “We are proud to take the leadership role in being the first to offer this new service which will expand healthcare access to the growing Hoover community, the largest community in Alabama without acute healthcare access.”
Brookwood filed for its Certificate of Need for this project in 2009, but the project was opposed by Trinity Medical Center, which is relocating to a new facility on Highway 280. Trinity argued that a Certificate of Need should not have been approved for Brookwood back in 2010 because at that time, the concept of a freestanding emergency room did not exist in the state health plan. Trinity’s opposition was overruled after five years, giving Brookwood the go-ahead to begin the project.
Brookwood has made a commitment to the Highway 280 corridor, an important area that has few options for emergency care. Congestion in this area can cost time when emergency services are needed, and the FED will make earlier treatment possible. Preston says the FED also will complement
Brookwood’s existing primary care services as well as urgent care facilities along the corridor. Brookwood’s Cardiovascular Associates heart clinic is also in the area near the Colonnade.
Brookwood’s $19 million FED will be a 24,000-square-foot facility with 11 exam rooms and a trauma room. It will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will have 24-hour fully staffed laboratory services, as well as pharmacy and diagnostic services including CT, MRI, X-ray and ultrasound. In addition to ambulances stationed at the FED, a helipad will also be available for emergency air transfer, a requirement set forth by the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH). Protocols will be set for stabilization and immediate transfer of patients who require specialized hospital care. Medical West’s facility will be similar and will also meet ADPH requirements.
“We have worked closely with the Alabama Department of Public Health which developed stringent rules that will guide these facilities in our state. Doctors who work at these FEDs must be board certified in emergency medicine. These rules are more stringent that those regulating traditional emergency departments,” Preston says. “Our FED will be staffed by the same physician group that is in our emergency department at Brookwood Medical Center, maintaining constant communication with the hospital if a patient in the FED needs a specialized procedure or admission.”
Pennington points out that the Alabama facilities will operate similarly to others in the U.S. One major difference mandated by the ADPH requires that FEDs in Alabama be owned and operated by an existing hospital licensed in the state and can be no farther than 35 miles from the hospital that oversees it. “This makes the Alabama facilities unique,” he says.
Preston agrees and adds that the provider-based requirement is an important one. “One of the most important aspects of the rules is that freestanding emergency departments in Alabama must be provider-based,” he says. “I think that’s a real safeguard for citizens in Alabama, knowing there is a relationship between the freestanding emergency department and the host hospital.”
