July 12, 2005

Collin Parker

Fletcher Allen Public Affairs

802-847-2886

Fletcher Allen Opens New Emergency Department

Facility Dedicated in Honor of Former Chief Executive Officer Jim Taylor

 BURLINGTON, VT – On Wednesday, July 13, Fletcher Allen Health Care will officially open the doors of its new Emergency Department, giving patients access to a larger, more modern space with state-of-the-art technology and a family-centered feel.

Vermont Governor Jim Douglas joined Fletcher Allen President and Chief Executive Officer Melinda Estes, M.D., and other dignitaries from the state of Vermont and the City of Burlington to officially dedicate the new Emergency Department at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, July 9.

The new Emergency Department was dedicated in honor of former Medical Center of Vermont Chief Executive Officer and President of the Vermont Health Foundation Jim Taylor.  The Vermont Health Foundation, on of Fletcher Allen’s parent organizations, made an extraordinary gift of $2.5 million to the building project.

Fletcher Allen’s Emergency Department is the state’s only Level I Adult and Pediatric Trauma Center, where patients benefit from the expertise of specialists in all the major medical fields — including surgery, emergency medicine, cardiology, orthopaedics, neurology, radiology, pediatrics, oncology, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, and oral surgery.

The new department is than twice the size of the old one, and it is designed to handle more than 65,000 patient visits a year; the Emergency Department currently sees approximately 52,000 patients annually.  The new facility will have 45 beds — compared to 23 in the old facility — including 10 additional beds for trauma and major resuscitation patients.

Fletcher Allen’s New Emergency Department

Increased Capacity

The new facility also has a total of five ambulance bays, compared to two previously; a larger, better-equipped trauma/resuscitation area; a trauma elevator to take patients directly from the Emergency Department up to the operating rooms on the third floor; and an expanded  decontamination area for situations involving hazardous materials.

Family-Centered Care

The Emergency Department provides a family-centered environment with a larger waiting area, a play space for children and increased privacy for patients and families in the treatment areas. All of the Emergency Department’s internal entrances are secure; all employees use a pass card to enter and visitors need to be buzzed in by a security officer, who will be stationed just inside the entrance 24 hours a day.

Specialized Treatment Areas

The new facility features suites dedicated to particular specialties, including orthopaedics, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, ear/nose/throat, and psychiatry. This enables staff to offer specialized care and equipment to patients needing treatment for particular illnesses.

Advanced Technology

The Emergency Department has its own state-of-the-art radiology area, with two X-ray machines and the only Philips 64-slice Computed Tomography (CT) scanner in New England, and one of only a few in the entire country.  A CT scanner can detect and identify fractures in the bones as well as abnormalities within the body, providing a greater level of detail than X-rays. This equipment will enable physicians to provide a faster, more precise diagnosis for Emergency Department patients.

Improved Registration

Patients also benefit from an enhanced registration process. Patients who are treated in the main Emergency Department are triaged directly into a room, and registration is completed at bedside. The bedside registration, combined with a new electronic medical record system, helps to expedite patient care in the Emergency Department.

FastTrack

For those patients coming to the Emergency Department with minor illnesses or injuries, Fletcher Allen offers “FastTrack” — a six-bed treatment area located in the Emergency Department staffed by a physician assistant and a registered nurse or emergency services technician.

Critical Care Transport

Fletcher Allen Coordinated Transport (FACT) is Fletcher Allen’s inter-hospital critical care transport service. FACT ambulances transport adult and pediatric patients from outlying hospitals in Vermont, northern New York and New Hampshire to Fletcher Allen, operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. FACT has a fleet of three ambulances — two based at Fletcher Allen and one based in Malone, N.Y. — each staffed with a critical care nurse and two advanced level emergency medical technicians.

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