New emergency department lets PCH see more patients, treat them faster
Aug 14, 2018, 9:59 AM
PHOENIX – The new emergency department is one of the many features that makes Phoenix Children’s Hospital such a vital resource for the community.
Thanks to the upgrades, the hospital can see more trauma patients and provide urgent care more efficiently.
The original emergency department was built to handle around 25,000 patients annually, but in 2017 the unit saw more than 86,000 children.
“So we were kind of ripping at the seams in our old emergency department,” said Sandi Garcia, an event coordinator for PCH. “We turned our old gift shop into a triage room.”
The new facility, which opened in September 2017, tripled the department’s capacity.
“Which means we would be able to see up to 100,000 kids, which is what we want to be able to do,” Garcia said.
Trauma patients can also be treated faster during a time when every second can matter.
It took nearly five minutes to transport an airlifted patient from the helipad to the old emergency department, Garcia said. Now, it takes less than two minutes.
“Everything is located here on this part of the campus, so we’re able to take care of those trauma cases as soon as possible,” she said.
The emergency department is just one example of the good that can be done with charitable donations to the nation’s sixth-largest children’s hospital.
KTAR News 92.3 FM and 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station are teaming up this week for their 10th annual Give-A-Thon, which has raised a total of more than $10 million for PCH.
The Phoenix sister stations will dedicate broadcast time to the event Wednesday and Thursday to raise money for the facility.