Northwest Medical Center – Bentonville earns Geriatric ED Accreditation from American College of Emergency Physicians
5/7/2021
(BENTONVILLE) – Northwest Medical Center – Bentonville’s Emergency Department (ED) has achieved the Bronze Level 3 accreditation from the American College of Emergency Physicians’ (ACEP) Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation (GEDA) program. It joins Northwest Medical Center – Springdale as the only two hospitals in the state to achieve this quality designation.
“Bentonville and the surrounding community have a large population of older adults. It’s important that we as health care providers strive to provide the best care for our community, and that means tailoring the care to what the community needs,” said Patrick Kerrwood chief executive officer of Northwest Medical Center – Bentonville. “This designation combined with our Joint Commission Gold Seal of Approval, Advanced Primary Stroke Center and Chest Pain Center Accreditation sets our hospital up to better serve the community.”
The ACEP launched the GEDA program in 2018 to recognize emergency departments who prioritize providing excellent care for older adults. The program includes three levels similar to trauma center designations and provides specific criteria and goals for emergency departments to target. A Level 3 emergency department incorporates these best practices for geriatric care along with providing interdisciplinary geriatric education for staff, and having geriatric appropriate equipment and supplies available.
Danelle Richards, M.D., medical director and Mickey Bryant, RN, CCRN, emergency department director led the Bentonville team in making these enhancements to the ED to better address geriatric needs. Beds are lower and mattresses are thicker for comfort. Clocks and patient education are produced in larger fonts for easier reading. Extra safety measures are in place to help prevent falls such as access to canes and walkers.
Bryant said the team has gone the extra mile for this accreditation.
“We have three specialized nurse coordinators who have received additional training and assist the team with our older patients,” she said. “This allows our community to have access to specialized geriatric care closer to home and allows us to better serve the area.”
About ACEP
The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) is the national medical society representing emergency medicine. Through continuing education, research, public education and advocacy, ACEP advances emergency care on behalf of its 40,000 emergency physician members, and the more than 150 million Americans they treat on an annual basis. For more information, visit www.acep.org and www.emergencyphysicians.org.
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