Wesley Medical Center’s new Ready Care area opens on Tuesday morning. The $350,000 project hopes to better serve patients who arrive with minor and moderate emergencies.
The Ready Care area at Wesley Medical Center was once a large waiting room, now it features beds and IV equipment sectioned off by curtains.
The revamped area is described as an “express lane” for minor emergencies like sprains, sore throats and ear infections. It also allows physicians assistants and nurse practitioners to begin tests on more serious patients sooner, according to Emergency Department Manager Ashley Lunkenheimer.
“This is right at the front door, so literally steps from the entrance, you’re seeing a physicians assistant or a nurse practitioner," she says. "We’re seeing those mid-acuity type patients, abdominal pains and things like that, in this area so we can get things started for them, rather than them waiting out in triage.”
Lunkenheimer says the Emergency Department at Wesley Medical Center sees an average of 220 patients every day. With this new Ready Care center, their goal is to have wait times at less than 30 minutes.
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