Outcomes of Establishing an Urgent Care Centre in the Same Location as an Emergency Department

Abstract

The emergency department (ED) is one of the busiest facilities in a hospital, and it is frequently described as a bottleneck that limits space and structures, jeopardising surge capacity during Major Incidents and Disasters (MIDs) and pandemics such as the COVID 19 outbreak. One remedy to facilitate surge capacity is to establish an Urgent Care Centre (UCC), i.e., a secondary ED, co-located and in close collaboration with an ED. This study investigates the outcome of treatment in an ED versus a UCC in terms of length of stay (LOS), time to physician (TTP) and use of medical services. If it was possible to make these parameters equal to or even less than the ED, UCCs could be used as supplementary units to the ED, improving sustainability. The results show reduced waiting times at the UCC, both in terms of TTP and LOS. In conclusion, creating a primary care-like facility in close proximity to the hospitals may not only relieve overcrowding of the hospital’s ED in peacetime, but it may also provide an opportunity for use during MIDs and pandemics to facilitate the victims of the incident and society as a whole.

Disasters and Public Health Emergencies—Current Perspectives in Preparedness and Response

“…Limiting factors for potential participation in this response system consisted of a varying lack of devices, healthcare materials, competences, clear organizational structure, legal support, medical responsibility, and sufficient funding. Raidla et al [19] argue that an alternative care facility can also be organized within or near to a hospital to improve the flexibility needed in peacetime as well as during disasters. They investigated this concept by examining how the establishment of an urgent care center (UCC), i.e., a secondary emergency department (ED), co-located and in close collaboration with an ED, can influence the outcome of treatment in terms of length of stay, time to a physician, and use of medical services.…”

A Cross-Sectional Study on the Flood Emergency Preparedness among Healthcare Providers in Saudi Arabia

“…In a local study, a large number of participants (85.7%) were confident in terms of their ability to handle disasters in a large tertiary hospital [25]. This discrepancy may be explained due to the nature of the study sample, which enrolled only emergency department staff [26,27].…”

Lessons learnt for enhancing hospital resilience to pandemics: A qualitative analysis from Italy

“…Healthcare workers (HCWs) have been at risk for being exposed to SARS-CoV-2 [ 36 ] especially in medical COVID-19 areas, including intensive care units (ICUs) [ 37 ] and Emergency Departments (EDs) [ 38 ], although rigorous infection control measures ensured rare nosocomial transmissions [ [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] ]. EDs resulted to be particularly affected during the pandemic as they were called to early detect and isolate potential cases of COVID-19 upon arrival [ 42 , [45] , [46] , [47] , [48] , [49] ], and to ensure patient access to care when demand exceeded available resources [ 50 ]. The main IPC measures include wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and social distance, which are considered essential in preventing human-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 [ 51 ].…”