New Methodist Boerne Emergency Center Provides Convenient Care at Critical Times
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Before the new Methodist Boerne Emergency Center opened in January 2008, Boerne residents had few options when a medical emergency arose.
“The area had no 24/7 emergency medical care. There’s an urgent care clinic, but their hours of operation are limited,” says Eileen Huss, vice president of patient care services for the center. “So residents often would have to go to surrounding areas for emergency care. The Methodist Health System felt this would very much serve the community.”
Located adjacent to Methodist Boerne Medical Center, the $13.6 million emergency center covers more than 20,000 square feet. It features 15 private treatment rooms, including two dual purpose rooms for trauma and cardiac care, five urgent care rooms, four rapid triage rooms for minor emergencies and four observation rooms.
The Methodist Boerne Emergency Center is the first freestanding emergency center in south and central Texas that is open around the clock and directly linked to a full-service hospital. With a 35-person team, the emergency center already serves more than 1,000 patients each month for everything from chest pain and broken bones to stomach ailments, asthma attacks and car accident injuries.
“We have a highly skilled staff,” says Huss, who transferred to the Methodist Boerne Emergency Center from Mainland Medical Center in Texas City, where she served as director of critical care. “The nurses who work here have been in emergency medicine many years, and all the physicians are board-certified. Our employees are very happy here, and we’ve had very high patient satisfaction ratings.”
Should a patient arrive at the emergency center with a critical illness or injury, air and ground transport to San Antonio are available on the spot. The emergency center also provides bedside registration for convenience and privacy, laboratory and blood bank services, telemetry equipment, a 16-slice CAT Scan Unit, and direct access to advanced trauma services and expert resources at Methodist Healthcare facilities.
A Picture Archiving Communications System, or PACS, even allows staff to electronically transmit a diagnostic image from the Methodist Boerne Emergency Center to any Methodist physician’s office, specialist or any Methodist hospital emergency room for hassle-free follow-up.
“The community’s response to the new emergency center has been absolutely wonderful. This was very much needed and wanted for this growing community,” Huss says. “They’re very happy we’re here.”
Methodist Healthcare System is based in San Antonio and offers a high quality team of nurses and doctors, health-care professionals, equipment, facilities and services in San Antonio and 26 surrounding counties. It is the area’s second largest employer with 7,000 employees.
For more information, visit www.sahealth.com.
Story by Jessica Mozo
Photo by Jesse Knish
