Gaylene Adamczyk
410-601-8678

• Pediatric Care Center - a friendly environment for those under the age of 16
• Cardiac Care Center - extensive monitoring and treatment for acute cardiac problems and to rule out heart attacks.
• Rapid Care Center - a separate area for minor illnesses and injuries
• Urgent Care Center - for acute illnesses other than cardiac problem
• Emergent Care Center - intensive care for the critically il
• Observation Care Center - for care, testing and treatment in stages or over an extended perio
• Psychiatric Care Center - for acute mental illness.

The 21,000-square-foot ER-7 improves and enhances all aspects of care and maintains the hospital�s commitment to patient comfort, privacy and compassionate care. Full registration now occurs at the bedside, after the patient is designated to a particular care area. Individual treatment areas are set up as specially designed centers catering to the needs of patients requiring that type of care.

In the old ER model, a migraine sufferer could be placed near a patient screaming out in pain,� notes Becki Vasse, director of Critical Care and Emergency Services. This will not happen in the ER-7 model because the objective is balanced care � making sure each patient is in the best possible setting to promote optimal treatment and recovery.�

Privacy considerations were also paramount in the design of ER-7, where patients are able to sit with the doctor and discuss their conditions without being overheard by others. Healthcare decisions are made much more easily and patients will be treated and admitted to the hospital or discharged home much more quickly. Families, too, enjoy private waiting areas equipped with televisions and telephones, and have access to a patient and family advocate, who attends to their non-medical needs while in the ER-7.

The goal of ER-7 is to continue to provide high quality, compassionate emergency care for our community in a comfortable setting,� says Robert Fischer, president of Northwest. We have expanded our private room concept to include private treatment areas in the ER similar to those on our inpatient floors. Our patients can relax in private and let our expert medical team attend to their needs.�

The ER-7�s emergence could not have been more timely. Northwest emergency professionals treated more than 46,000 patients last year, including 5,000 pediatric cases. Estimates project 53,000 visits by FY 2005.

The $8.5 million project was funded in part by a $6 million capital campaign, which included grants from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, the Northwest Hospital Center Auxiliary, the Helen P. Denit Charitable Trust, and The John J. Leidy Foundation.

A full week of events coincided with the mid-June opening, including a Health and Safety Fair on Saturday, June 15. Northwest ER-7 opened to the public for patients on June 26, 2002.

Northwest�s ER-7 is modeled after the area�s first ER-7, implemented three years ago at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore. Northwest Hospital Center is a member of LifeBridge Health, a regional health organization that includes Sinai Hospital, Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital, Jewish Convalescent & Nursing Home, and related subsidiaries and affiliates.

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