News Release

HOSPITAL WILL OPEN NEW EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT OCT. 8

Sept. 22, 2004 — UPMC Northwest has announced plans for the opening of its new hospital Emergency Department in Cranberry Township, and for some changes that will affect its existing emergency services for a week before the opening.

UPMC Northwest will open the new hospital Emergency Department at 6:30 am Friday, Oct. 8, the same day the hospital will begin admitting inpatients to the new facility. All walk-in patients who need emergency care after 6:30 am Friday, Oct. 8, should report to the new hospital Emergency Department at 100 Fairfield Drive in Seneca, says Rade Vukmir, MD, JD, physican director of emergency services.

Before opening the new hospital Emergency Department, UPMC Northwest will permanently close the ImmediaCare unit at its Oil City campus at midnight Thursday, Sept. 30. From midnight Thursday, Sept. 30, until the new hospital Emergency Department opens at 6:30 am Friday, Oct. 8, all of UPMC Northwest’s emergency services will be provided in the Emergency Department at the hospital’s Franklin campus.

“Anyone who needs any kind of emergency care during this one-week period (from midnight Thursday, Sept. 30, to 6:30 am Friday, Oct. 8) should report to the Emergency Department at the Franklin campus,” Dr. Vukmir said.

When the new hospital Emergency Department opens at 6:30 am Friday, Oct. 8, UPMC Northwest will permanently close its Franklin campus Emergency Department.

The new hospital Emergency Department will feature an expanded staff and 24 stations for specific types of care, including “fast track” care for patients with minor illnesses and injuries, and an acute care unit for more serious and life-threatening emergencies including trauma cases. The new emergency facility also has a Clinical Decision Unit for patients who need further observation, including testing and/or treatment, before being discharged or admitted for inpatient care.

The “fast track” unit, which specializes in prompt treatment for minor emergencies, will be staffed from 10 am to midnight daily, Dr. Vukmir said. Patients who need care for minor illnesses and injuries between midnight and 10 am will receive care in the main portion of the Emergency Department.

Care for minor emergencies may take longer when the “fast track” unit isn’t open – depending on the number and severity of other cases in the department at the time – but the goal always is to provide minor emergency care quickly and conveniently, Dr. Vukmir said.

All walk-in emergency patients will be seen initially by a triage nurse who will assess their illness or injury and direct them to the appropriate area of the department for care, according to Emergency Department nurse manager Rhonda Steigerwald, RNC.

The new Emergency Department has a covered entrance where walk-in patients can be dropped off, and there’s plenty of free parking close to the entrance.

The patient entrance is clearly marked with a lighted red “Emergency” sign on the left (west) side of the hospital. The sign immediately in front of the hospital (at the stop sign on Fairfield Drive) provides directions to the Emergency Department when patients arrive at the site.

The new Emergency Department also has a separate ambulance entrance on the rear (north) side of the hospital.