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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

John Muir Medical Center's Emergency Department receives top award.

Contact: Sarah Hay
800.476.1504
hays@cep.com

(October 2004, Oakland, Calif.,) -John Muir Medical Center’s Emergency Department, Walnut Creek, Calif., has received the 2004 Emergency Department of the Year Award from California Emergency Physicians (CEP) Medical Group. As Contra Costa County’s designated Level 2 Trauma Center, John Muir’s Emergency Department will provide emergency care to more than 45,000 patients this year, including 1,200 trauma victims from Contra Costa, Solano, and Marin Counties.

Out of 53 sites statewide, John Muir’s Emergency Department received the award based on its operational excellence and high patient satisfaction. “We are honored to receive the Emergency Department of the Year Award. The achievement is the result of our ongoing efforts to provide the highest quality emergency care to Bay Area residents and visitors,” said Alice D. Hunter, MD, Medical Director of Emergency Services at John Muir Medical Center. “I want to recognize the Administration and Medical Staff at John Muir for their important role in supporting the Emergency Department team in our efforts to continually raise the bar for emergency care.”

“Providing the highest quality of care and patient satisfaction are top priorities for us at John Muir,” said Ken Meehan, Chief Admitting Officer, John Muir Medical Center. “Congratulations to our dedicated team of nurses, physicians, and other support staff whose skill and compassion have earned this honor for the department.”

The Emergency Department demonstrated operational excellence by decreasing the average time to see a physician to less than 30 minutes; the average time nationwide is approximately 52 minutes. This was accomplished through the implementation of several successful initiatives including Immediate Bedding, Bedside Registration, Flexible Staffing, and a Fast Track Program.

John Muir’s Emergency Department is considered a leader in terms of its pioneering patient satisfaction efforts, which earned it the CEP Patient Satisfaction of the Year Award in 2001. The Emergency Department has consistently ranked in the top three in its peer group for patient satisfaction—earning the No. 1 spot in 2003—on the CEP-wide patient satisfaction survey. As part of the survey, patients rate their overall experience in the Emergency Department in terms of quality of medical care, satisfaction with ancillary services, and the caring attitude of the physicians and staff. To further enhance patient satisfaction, several initiatives have been implemented including a Patient Greeter Program, which provides immediate registration and alerts the clinical staff to the patient’s arrival; a Patient Call Back Program, a system in which physicians may contact a group of discharged patients to provide follow up care; and a multidisciplinary “Quick Fix” Committee, a group of emergency physicians and staff that addresses departmental challenges and implements rapid solutions.

“John Muir’s Emergency Department is considered a model of success as a result of their innovative solutions in addressing operational, staffing, and patient care needs,” said Ellis Weeker, MD, CEP’s Regional Director for the South/East Bay. “The emergency medicine physicians, registered nurses, and emergency technicians are all highly qualified and experienced. In addition to maintaining board certification in Emergency Medicine, each physician is certified in Advanced Trauma Life Support. The nurses all maintain Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Trauma Nurse Certification, and Mobile Intensive Care Nurse Certification.”

Plans to further improve emergency services are currently in place with expanded hours for the Fast Track Program and the opening of a Clinical Decision Unit this fall. The Fast Track is staffed with both an emergency physician and a physician assistant on weekends to further improve service and care to patients and decrease wait times. The Clinical Decision Unit is a fully equipped mobile extension of the Emergency Department and will increase capacity from 22 beds to 29 beds. Within the next three years, John Muir Medical Center plans to build a new Emergency Department, tripling its current size and ensuring its continued ability to provide state-of-the-art, compassionate care in the future.

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CEP was founded in 1975 and is the leading provider of physician staffing, management, and consulting services for Emergency Department and Ambulatory Care Practices in California. To date, CEP includes more than 1,000 providers, 53 Emergency Departments, and 19 Ambulatory Care Practices. For more information on CEP, visit their website at www.cep.com.