West Boca Medical Center in Boca Raton, Fla., has opened a "fast-track" emergency department facility steps away from its main ED, where patients with less severe medical needs can be treated more efficiently.
The fast-track ED includes seven treatment bays with recliners for patients who can remain vertical. It's staffed with nurses and medical technicians, and it is meant to ease ED overcrowding. Hospital officials described the space as an "urgent care facility attached to a hospital."
"In a split-flow model, to have patients with less significant complaints and injuries, brought over to an area where they can be rapidly evaluated, rapidly treated and not be taking up the beds that a patient with chest pains or severe shortness of breath might be taking for hours in our main side," Cory Harow, MD, chief of the emergency department at West Boca Medical Center, told ABC affiliate WPBF.
"In the event of a change in clinical status or the need for additional interventions, our Fast Track Emergency Department seamlessly transitions patients to the appropriate level of care," Dr. Harow said in a March 13 news release.
West Boca Medical Center is part of Palm Beach Health Network.