Monticello Live

Scott Barrilleaux, CEO of Drew Memorial Hospital, announced Monday that two physicians will staff the hospital’s Emergency Department on December 26 and 27.

The ER always has one physician on staff on weekends in addition to three Registered Nurses. “This fall, we began staffing a third nurse over the extended weekend (Friday-Monday) because when most doctors’ offices are closed, we see a higher number of patients than we do on weekdays,” said Barrilleaux.

“Over the Christmas holiday, we typically see an increase in ER visits,” said Dr. Robert Jacobs, Medical Director of the Emergency Department. “When Christmas falls near an already-busy weekend, it can be especially hectic. We’ve decided to staff two physicians in the ER on December 26 and 27 to meet the demand we anticipate.”

Barrilleaux added, “We’ve been listening to our patient feedback and we know that ER visits are stressful for patients because there is a time-sensitive medical need. If we can help make that experience more positive by reducing wait time to see a physician, especially during a peak time like Christmas weekend, that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

Barrilleaux explained that the ER is currently one of his priority areas for increasing patient satisfaction. He said, “There are a lot of complexities to the operation an ER, and Dr. Jacobs and his team do a wonderful job of triaging patients based on urgency. We know that sometimes there will be a long wait in our ER if it’s busy, and we are grateful for your patience. As always, we hope to hear about your visit. Each comment is an opportunity for us to improve the patient experience.”
Drew Memorial Hospital has Drew County’s only 24/7 emergency room.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 15th, 2015 at 1:03 pm and is filed under Site. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.