With our freestanding emergency rooms in Tyler and Longview, Hospitality Health ER is often asked about what our capabilities are compared to a hospital ER. Because freestanding ERs are a fairly new concept, patients aren’t quite sure what to expect or what level of care they would receive from this type of emergency room.
Can we handle medical emergencies just like a hospital emergency rooms? Do we have all the equipment that hospital ERs have? Are the doctors qualified to take on critical medical situations?
The answers are Yes, Yes, and Yes.
Just think: these freestanding ERs must be meeting patient expectations; otherwise, you probably wouldn’t see one popping up in every town. But to provide you further reassurance, here are three facts about freestanding emergency rooms that you may not have known.
1. A Freestanding ER operates just like a hospital ER, with the ability to admit patients for major surgeries and hospital stays.
It’s normal to question how freestanding ERs can help patients in need of major medical assistance. But just like a hospital emergency room, we can stabilize a patient quickly and coordinate surgery and hospital admission — and typically get you treated faster than a hospital ER can. The overall time from seeing the doctor to receiving treatment is typically less with a freestanding ER because of shorter wait times, direct admission, quicker imaging, and faster lab results.
And yes, freestanding emergency rooms have all the tools and supplies of a hospital ER, including IV treatment and cardiac monitoring. They just do not have surgeons or blood banks on-site, but can quickly admit a patient to receive this type of care — and typically in less time than a hospital emergency room.
2. A Freestanding ER offers lower wait times.
With freestanding emergency rooms, patients can walk right in and be seen almost immediately. This is one of the major advantages of going to a freestanding ER over the hospital. Because hospital ERs have long been the go-to for everybody and anybody that couldn’t get an appointment with their doctor or didn’t have insurance, hospital ERs have become overcrowded.
The average wait time in a hospital ER is about an hour — and that’s just the waiting room. For anyone that has been to an emergency room, you know there can be an additional hour or two of waiting for your doctor to come to your bedside. That’s especially hard when you’re dealing with a child in pain or discomfort. At a freestanding ER, you have virtually no wait time and the doctor is available to tend to you or your family member right away.
3. You Get More Doctor-Patient Interaction at a Freestanding ER.
Because freestanding ERs are rarely overcrowded, the doctor has more time to listen and assess your medical condition. They don’t have to rush off to their thirtieth patient of the night. And the doctor can really get to know you and your medical history before making a diagnosis.
There can be more advantages to using freestanding ERs, depending on which one you select. At Hospitality Health ER in Tyler and Longview, we offer a state-of-the art emergency room facility with comfortable waiting rooms, private patient rooms, and refreshments for family members. And we have pediatric-trained ER doctors and staff members.
If you’d like to know how we differ from urgent care centers, read our blog here.
