Busy and Getting Busier
Today, the Emergency Department at University Hospitals Case Medical Center is the second busiest ED in Northeast Ohio, serving more than 73,000 pediatric and adult patients each year. Over 50 percent of all adult admissions to the hospital come through the ED, making it in many ways UH Case Medical Center’s “front door” for thousands of patients. As the only Level I pediatric trauma center in Northern Ohio, UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital offers the most advanced pediatric emergency care and meets an important need in our region, serving thousands of patients and families every year.
Need for a New Center for Emergency Medicine
Built in the late 1970s to accommodate an annual census of 40,000 patients, the Emergency Department facility at UH Case Medical Center today struggles to serve a growing patient volume of 73,000 and is outdated. Overcrowding has caused some patients to be cared for in hallways. A lack of dedicated space for pediatric patients means children are sometimes exposed to stressful situations in the adult ED. Accessibility is another challenge. Our ED is located in the basement of a hard-to-find, over-crowded building in the back of UH Case Medical Center, where patient and visitor parking is limited.
Our Commitment to the Community: The New Center for Emergency Medicine
UH is now moving forward with plans for a new, larger and state-of-the-art pediatric and adult Center for Emergency Medicine at UH Case Medical Center (rendering above-right; click for a close-up). The approximately $41 million Center for Emergency Medicine will more than double the space of our current ED facility and accommodate over 80,000 patients from all walks of life. The Center for Emergency Medicine has been carefully designed to maximize patient comfort, privacy, and safety. Housed within the Center for Emergency Medicine, the new Marcy R. Horvitz Pediatric Emergency Center will continue to provide the highest levels of pediatric emergency care and advance UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital's leadership as Northern Ohio's only Level I pediatric trauma center.
The Center for Emergency Medicine will be easily accessible to drive-up patients and EMS vehicles. It will house radiology and lab services and provide separate, dedicated spaces for pediatric and adult patients with staff, facilities and equipment specific to their needs. With its flexible design, the Center for Emergency Medicine will be better-positioned to respond to trauma, cardiac and stroke patients, as well as disaster situations. As a site of academic medicine, it will also help address our community’s need for more pediatric, adult and geriatric emergency medicine specialists, housing residency programs for adult and pediatric emergency medicine.
Facts about the CEM
- Non-emergency urgent care services for pediatric and adult patients will ease congestion.
- The CEM will serve as the region’s only disaster-prepared emergency medical facility with specially trained staff.
- All patient rooms will be private rooms large enough to accommodate family members.
- The CEM will be fully equipped to respond to bioterrorism situations.
- A new substantial parking garage will allow for dedicated CEM parking for families.
- The new CEM will further elevate UH’s ability to attract and retain the best and brightest pediatric and adult emergency medicine faculty and staff.
- The new, modern Marcy R. Horvitz Pediatric Emergency Center will enhance Rainbow’s unique status as the region’s only Level I pediatric trauma center.
- The CEM will continue to serve as the preferred site for pediatric resident education in acute care and will also train future pediatric emergency medicine physicians through fellowships. Plans for an adult emergency medicine residency program are in place.
CEM Fact Sheet
Click here to download a CEM fact sheet.
For more information on supporting the Center for Emergency Medicine, please contact:
Kim Gardner
Senior Development Officer, Clinical Funding
216.844.0462
Kim.Gardner@uhhospitals.org
