September 18, 2013

ER services improved at Curry General Hospital

GOLD BEACH, OR - It has been Curry General Hospital's policy to have an Emergency Room Physician on campus 24 hours a day for the past two and one-half years. It was not that long ago when physicians that were not on campus staffed the hospital's emergency room in Gold Beach; often responding from their homes, office or elsewhere locally while on call. While this is a practice used by many other small communities, Curry Health Network instituted a change in policy in response to public frustration and perception of slow response times to the ER by the on-call physician. Now the highly qualified emergency physicians are on-site, 24/7.

In May of this year, the hospital brought on board Dr. Paul Tice as Emergency Room Medical Director. Dr. Tice, board certified in Emergency Medicine with 37 years experience, earned his medical degree from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and completed an Internship at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle. In 2012, he was honored with both the Patients' Choice Award and Compassionate Doctor Recognition awards. Dr. Tice has initiated a new Peer Review program that ensures promotion of the highest quality of medical care as well as patient safety.

RN Will Chambers, the hospital's Surgical Services and Emergency Department Manager, says Dr. Tice has worked hard to refine their purpose, increased trauma education and improved trauma service, and promotes continual education of the staff.

"We're always ready to meet your emergency care needs," said Chambers, "and we're focusing on providing excellent care and patient satisfaction by reducing patient wait times, improving efficiency of care, and enhancing our patients' experience. We're running a better show."

"It isn't enough to just meet patient expectations of service - our goal is to exceed those expectations and under Dr. Tice's direction the emergency team is continuously working on improvements to care," said Andrew Bair, CEO of Curry Health Network.

Curry General Hospital's emergency department has earned a designation as a Level IV Trauma Center with 24-hour Trauma Surgeon availability. Trauma hospitals are distinguished from other facilities in that they have in-house or promptly available surgeons, anesthetists, physicians, nurses, lab and X-ray and other ancillary services, and resuscitation life-support equipment on a 24-hour-a-day basis, dedicated to the care of trauma patients.