FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 29, 2008

Dignified, timely and skilled. Those are the attributes that can make the difference between life and death in a situation where seconds count. And that’s the kind of care patients receive in the Emergency Department at St. John’s Mercy Hospital in Washington.

The hospital is the only 24-hour Level III Trauma Center between St. Louis and Jefferson City and is the transfer site for a major share of the medical traumas between the two cities. It is located 50 miles southwest of St. Louis and serves the needs of 150,000 residents in five counties. Its commitment to quality health care attracts more than 30,000, who come through its doors each year.

“We’ve had an Emergency Department for more than 30 years and became a Level III Trauma Center in 1997,” said Garry Scarato, M.D., medical director for the Emergency Department at the hospital. “That means we provide 24-hour access to emergency physicians, trauma nurses, trauma and orthopedic surgeons, anesthesiologists, operating rooms and intensive care services.”

The hospital has 10 full-time Emergency Department doctors on staff, and any hour of the day or night you will find from one to three of them ready to handle any emergency. As many as seven nurses are there at all times, also technicians and secretaries. “All our doctors are full-time emergency and trauma medicine trained and board certified through the state,” said Dr. Scarato.

In addition, they take continuing education programs and trauma seminars either at the hospital or the Medical Center and repeat the Trauma Nurse Core Course every four years.

“We have 15 rooms and five shifts a day,” said Randy Graham, R.N., Emergency Department manager. “During our busiest times, from 4 p.m. to midnight, we usually have three doctors available.”

As soon as a patient presents at the Emergency Department door, he or she is seen by a triage nurse. If the injury or condition is serious, the patient is taken immediately to a room, according to Graham, who oversees the nursing, clerical and technical functions and patient care response and satisfaction for the department.

The most common emergencies they see are chest, belly and back pain; injuries, cuts and bruises. “We seem to see a younger population,” said Dr. Scarato. “Twenty-five percent of our patients are 16 and under and 60 percent are 40 and younger. Only 15 percent are geriatric.”

Although the hospital can handle most emergencies, more serious Level 1 situations are referred to St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur, which also boasts a new Pediatric Emergency Department. The helicopter flight between the two is less than 10 minutes.

Both the Medical Center and Washington Hospital are members of St. John's Mercy Health Care, sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy Health System, one of the nation's largest Catholic hospitals. The Medical Center is the second-largest hospital in metropolitan St. Louis and operates the only Level I Trauma Center and Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in St. Louis County. The relationship with the Medical Center strengthens the hospital enormously, according to both Graham and Dr. Scarato.

“On average we refer 2 to 3 percent of our patients to the Medical Center, mainly for trauma, cardiac or pediatric care,” said Dr. Scarato. “We stabilize the patient first, then use either a helicopter or ambulance, depending on the severity of the situation, to get the patient there.”

Everyone who arrives at the Emergency Department is seen, whether that person is insured or not. “We don’t even know the patients’ financial information until after they’re treated,” said Dr. Scarato. “We don’t turn anybody away. We’re a safety net for our community.”

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