Alta View Hospital expands Emergency Department

Sandy, UT (10/9/2009) - Alta View Hospital continues to change and grow to meet the evolving needs of the community. The latest evidence of its growth: A major expansion of the hospital’s Emergency Department.

The expansion includes three major improvements for emergency patients and visitors:

• The Emergency Department has five additional patient care rooms (which gives the department a total of 25 patient rooms) and two new triage rooms. The increase in patient rooms allows Alta View Hospital to improve care processes, which will help make the Emergency Department more efficient and comfortable for patients.
• The expanded department now offers increased privacy for its patients. All of the patient bays that used to be open are now enclosed and larger than they used to be. This means patients and their families have more space to themselves and greater privacy as they receive treatment and talk together.
• More care processes are electronic — including patient tracking, nurse charting, and ordering of labs and imaging.

“The expansion of our Emergency Department means we can provide better, more efficient, and more comfortable care,” says Becky Kapp, administrator at Alta View Hospital. “Our Emergency Department is one of the busiest EDs in the state, and our staff is an experienced and well-trained group that’s ready to handle any emergency that comes through our doors. The expansion increases their ability to provide high-quality care to everyone who needs emergency care.”

Additional highlights of Alta View Hospital’s Emergency Department expansion:

• More functional work areas for Emergency Department staff.
• A larger area for staff to provide more efficient care to critically ill patients.
• A larger and more efficient pediatric treatment room, where all of the equipment is specific to pediatric patients.
• Enhanced security, which includes security cameras in public areas and hallways.
• New furniture and updated paint and artwork.

Alta View Hospital continues to provide high-quality care to people in the southeast part of the Salt Lake Valley. The hospital’s Emergency Department is one of the best in the valley in some key areas.

More details include:

• The average “door-to-doc” time in the Emergency Department is under 30 minutes.
• The Emergency Department provides full CT, MRI, and heart and lung imaging.
• Portable bedside ultrasound assists Emergency Department physicians with accurate insertion of critical lines and diagnosis of severe internal conditions.
• Alta View Hospital’s Emergency Department team specializes in the early identification and treatment of pneumonia and sepsis. 
• Heart attack patients are stabilized and transported to a cath lab at a tertiary care facility in an average of 78 minutes — well below the national average of 90 minutes.
• Alta View Hospital’s emergency physicians are board-certified in emergency medicine.
• Alta View Hospital’s emergency nurses have the same life-saving certifications as emergency nurses at tertiary care facilities.

“The expansion of the Emergency Department is another way Alta View Hospital is providing high-quality care and continuing to meet the needs of our changing community,” says Dr. Eric Gilbert, medical director of Alta View Hospital’s emergency department. “We have a long history of serving the people in need in the South Valley area, and it’s exciting to see our capacities increase.”