Baptist Health System is bringing top-notch emergency medical care to neighborhoods across San Antonio with a first of its kind concept here.

December 8, 2011

Baptist Emergency Hospital Opens

 New Hospital Concept in San Antonio

Baptist Health System opens first location at 281 and Thousand Oaks

to bring emergency care to local community

SAN ANTONIO, TX – Dec. 8, 2011 – Baptist Health System is bringing top-notch emergency medical care to neighborhoods across San Antonio with a first of its kind concept here. On Friday, December 9, 2011 at 7:00 a.m., the first Baptist Emergency Hospital will open at 16088 San Pedro Avenue, allowing residents of the north side area to access emergency medical care in a location close to home.  This is the first of five facilities that Baptist Health System is opening across the San Antonio area over the next year.

“Baptist Health System is pioneering a new concept in San Antonio that we believe will be of great benefit to our residents in the Alamo City and surrounding areas,” said Graham Reeve, President and Chief Executive Officer of Baptist Health System. “Having these hospitals close by will mean emergency care is available when and where people need it most, so we are excited to be able to bring this new service to our neighbors around San Antonio.”

Baptist is partnering with emergency medicine pioneer Emerus to manage the facilities, based on the company’s successful model in other areas throughout Texas, including Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth.

“Baptist Health System saw a lot of need in the San Antonio area for improved access to care,” said Toby Hamilton, M.D., F.A.C.E.P., and CEO of Emerus. “We are pleased to partner with a hospital system that truly cares about its patients like Baptist Health System does. They are not only the long-time trusted name for healthcare in San Antonio, but also an innovator. We know that when our patients or one of their loved ones has an emergency, you don’t want a delay because of distance or traffic, two very real obstacles in a growing city. We pride ourselves in getting people on their way to recovery faster.”

Baptist Emergency Hospital facilities will feature ERs that are efficient and accessible. Once patients are triaged and registered, they will be seen by a physician within 15 minutes, on average. From filling out paperwork, to being seen by a physician, to having diagnostic tests such as CT scans or laboratory tests, most patients will spend less than one hour in the hospital.

These emergency hospitals differ from urgent care centers in that most urgent care centers are designed to handle simple, non-life-threatening medical complaints, often during regular or extended business hours. Baptist Emergency Hospital, on the other hand, will be open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and staffed with board-certified emergency medicine physician specialists. The emergency rooms are equipped like conventional, large hospital-based emergency departments, offering on-site imaging services including X-ray, CT scan and ultrasound, as well as in-house laboratories.  Because of this, these emergency hospitals can handle any medical emergency at any time of day or night.

Five Baptist Emergency Hospital locations will reshape the emergency care landscape in San Antonio. Locations are planned in areas across San Antonio that have been identified based on access and need, including hospitals at:

• 8230 N 1604 W, San Antonio, TX 78249
• 10811 Town Center Drive, San Antonio, TX 78251
• 25622 N US Hwy 281, San Antonio, TX 78258
• I-35 at Schertz Pkwy, Schertz, TX 78154

The five Baptist Emergency Hospital facilities will range in square footage from 20,000 to 40,000 square feet each. All locations will be staffed by emergency medicine physicians, registered nurses, radiation technologists, and other clinical specialists. The five facilities will create a total of approximately 200 new jobs in the San Antonio area.

For more information, please visit www.baptistemergencyhospital.com.

June 17, 2011

Baptist Health System Launches
 Emergency Hospital Concept in San Antonio

Baptist Health System partners with Emerus to bring
emergency care to local communities

SAN ANTONIO, TX – June 17, 2011 – Baptist Health System, San Antonio’s healthcare leader for more than a century, plans to open four new emergency hospitals in the Alamo City, bringing emergency medical care closer to home for many residents. The hospital system is partnering with emergency medicine pioneer Emerus to manage the facilities based on the company’s successful model in other cities throughout Texas.

“Our mission at Baptist Health System is to be an innovative leader in providing quality and accessible health care to the people of San Antonio in a way that best meets our patients’ needs,” said Graham Reeve, President and Chief Executive Officer of Baptist Health System.  “Minutes matter in an emergency situation and improving access to emergency medical care is crucial to the health and wellbeing of our growing communities. We believe that these free-standing emergency facilities will make a difference in people’s lives.”

“Our strategy is to increase patient access to high-quality emergency medical care,” said Toby Hamilton, M.D., F.A.C.E.P., and CEO of Emerus. “Our specialized team of emergency medicine physicians and experienced nursing and clinical staff at Emerus allow us to offer superior care in convenient locations, with little to no wait times. When you or a loved one has an emergency, you don’t want a delay. You want to get treated efficiently and be on your way to recovery.”

The Baptist Health System emergency hospitals will feature ERs that are efficient and accessible. Once patients are triaged and registered, they will be seen by a physician within 15 minutes. From filling out paperwork, to being seen by a physician, to having diagnostic tests such as CT scans or laboratory tests, most patients will spend less than one hour in the facility.

These emergency hospitals differ from urgent care centers in that most urgent care centers are designed to handle simple, non-life-threatening medical complaints, often during regular or extended business hours. Baptist Health’s emergency hospitals, on the other hand, will be open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and staffed with board-certified emergency medicine physician specialists. The emergency rooms are equipped like conventional, large hospital-based emergency departments, offering on-site imaging services including X-ray, CT scan and ultrasound, as well as in-house laboratories.  Because of this, these emergency hospitals can handle any medical emergency at any time of day or night. Baptist Health System and Emerus will open four locations that will reshape the emergency care landscape in San Antonio. Locations are planned in areas across San Antonio that have been identified based on access and need.

All locations will be staffed by board-certified emergency medicine physicians, registered nurses, radiation technologists, and other clinical specialists. The initiative will create approximately 160 new jobs in the San Antonio area.

Baptist Health System expects to open its first facility this fall at Highway 281 and Thousand Oaks, with the remaining three facilities to open over the course of the next 12 months.

For more information, please visit www.emerus.com or www.baptisthealthsystem.com.

Feb. 23, 2010

Texas-based ERs Offer Unprecedented Guarantee:
Care within 15 Minutes or It’s Free

Why wait? Emerus treating emergencies as if they’re emergencies

THE WOODLANDS, TX – Long wait times in traditional, overburdened emergency rooms are frustrating patients and forcing them to look elsewhere for diagnosis and treatment. A Texas-based concept in the specialized delivery of emergency care, Emerus Emergency Hospital, promises to reduce wait times and improve care, and is now offering an unprecedented guarantee to back up the claim.

The system of licensed emergency specialty hospitals is guaranteeing that patients’ wait times to see a physician will be 15 minutes or less – or their care at that facility is provided free of charge*.

“The mission of Emerus is to increase patients’ access to high-quality emergency medical care,” said Toby Hamilton, M.D., F.A.C.E.P., and CEO of Emerus. “Our specialized team of emergency medicine physicians and experienced nursing and clinical staff allow us to offer superior care in convenient locations with little to no wait. After all, the only thing worse than being sick is waiting in a long line with other sick people, waiting to be seen.”

Emerus facilities run with an efficiency not seen in traditional emergency rooms. Once Emerus patients complete their paperwork, they are seen by a physician within 15 minutes, on average. From filling out paperwork, to being seen by a physician, to having diagnostic tests such as CT scans or laboratory tests, most patients spend, on average, less than one hour in the facility.

“We didn’t know what to expect, so we were prepared to wait for a while,” said Heather Hinton, who brought her son, Preston, in to Emerus in McKinney recently, “but the big novel I brought for myself and the game I brought for Preston were unnecessary.  I can’t believe we got in to see the doctor in six minutes! I don’t get in to see Preston’s pediatrician that fast!”

According to the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), patients in the U.S. are spending more than four hours in emergency departments, with typical waits of more than one to two hours to be seen and evaluated by a medical professional.

The emergency medicine physicians who created Emerus spent years working in traditional emergency departments, and that experience has driven the streamlined solutions and processes implemented in the Emerus system. Emerus facilities are staffed and equipped like conventional, hospital-based ERs, including imaging services such as X-ray, CT scanning and ultrasound, and comprehensive laboratory and pharmacy services.  Processes that may take hours to days in conventional hospitals take minutes at Emerus.  For example, board-certified tele-radiologists read every radiology image within 15 minutes and provide immediate written reports to the emergency medicine physician.

Emerus is a system of licensed hospitals and satellite facilities specializing in emergency care and offers in-patient beds and care to patients who need it. The company recently changed its name from 24 HR Emergency Room to set itself apart from other facilities that do not specialize in advanced emergency care services.

*The “15 minutes or it’s free” guarantee clock begins after the patient completes his or her paperwork and ends when the patient sees an emergency medicine physician.  If the guarantee is not met, the patient’s care at that facility is provided free of charge, without billing the patient’s insurance company.  If the patient requires transfer to another facility or medications, services provided at another facility are not included in the “15 minutes or it’s free” guarantee, nor are medications.  This offer is valid through December 1, 2010 at participating locations.

Emerus currently operates three facilities in the Houston area, in Sugar Land, Tomball and in the Galleria area of Houston; and two in the Dallas area, in Aubrey and McKinney.

For more information, please visit www.emerus.com.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/news/2011/12/08/first-baptist-emergency-hospital-now.html