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Hospital has the right connections to provide quality care at all
levels
The
deep rumble of a helicopter’s blades gradually replaced the soft, melodic
sounds of birds chirping on a sunny spring morning.
It was
the Lifestar helicopter arriving at The Westerly
Hospital helipad. The chopper’s arrival meant a patient would be
transported to a larger facility with more specialized care available.
Perhaps to Yale-New Haven Heart Center or Miriam Hospital in Providence for
advanced cardiac care, or to Rhode Island Hospital – the
state’s only trauma center - if the patient suffered serious trauma
or serious burns, or to Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence,
where a specialized pediatric team would be waiting.
These
various scenarios for patient transport would all have one element in
common: the patient would have been diagnosed and stabilized at The
Westerly Hospital Emergency Department before being transported to one of
these other facilities.
It
occurred to me on that Tuesday morning that while I was reviewing routine
tasks for the day ahead, a patient and their family was experiencing a
significant event on what they most likely imagined would be just another
day.
I
thought about the range of emotions they would feel that day. Their routine
schedule interrupted by the need to be rushed to the local hospital.
Feeling fortunate that the hospital was a short ride away, yet anxious as
nurses and physicians cared for their loved one with a mixture of hands-on
sensitivity and high-tech equipment.
We
average about two LifeStar flights per month
through the course of the year and so far this spring we have been right on
that mark. The most common reasons for transporting a patient to one of
these other facilities is for treatment of advanced cardiac cases, bleeding
in the brain, extensive burns, major trauma and serious pediatric cases.
The
concept of our affiliations with the physicians and services required for
these advanced and specialized cases illustrates well a role community
hospitals play that people might not always think about.
A community
hospital exists to provide a variety of the most common health care needs. Our
staff and the physicians affiliated with the Hospital are confident in what
they do, and they are clear about those procedures that would be better
performed elsewhere. And that is important difference for clinicians to
recognize. Our role in serious cases is to assess and stabilize the patient
and prepare them for transport to a facility better suited to the
specialized need.
We
generally think of quality as being measured by the service provided.
Perhaps more importantly, however, an indication of quality service also means
knowing where to go for the right answer.
With
close ties to facilities such as Yale-New Haven Heart Center and physicians
from Brown Medical School at Miriam Hospital, we’re confident we have
quality care covered from start to
finish.
David V. Tranchida is the Manager of Public Relations and
Marketing for The Westerly
Hospital.
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© Copyright 2000 The Westerly
Hospital, All Rights Reserved
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