Kaiser unveils new San Rafael Emergency department

Early Wednesday morning, staff at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Rafael will begin moving patients from the hospital’s existing emergency department to a new, much larger area that opens for business Wednesday. Three years ago, doctors and nurses at the San Rafael medical center implemented new procedures aimed at cutting the waiting time of visitors to the emergency department.

Three years ago, doctors and nurses at the San Rafael medical center implemented new procedures aimed at cutting the waiting time of visitors to the emergency department.

Patricia Kendall, Kaiser medical group administrator, said the new emergency department was tailor-made to facilitate this objective.

“We’re really looking forward to employing the new concept in the new space because we think it will make a big difference,” Kendall said.

The new 17,550-square-foot emergency department, built in a demolished portion of the hospital’s general services building, is approximately three times larger that the existing emergency department. It has two rooms for treating trauma patients, instead of one, and 18 medical treatment stations.

Dr. Gary Mizono, Kaiser physician-in-chief, said all the rooms in the new emergency department will be considerably larger, giving staff the space it needs to improve patient care.

The new facility will also feature rooms near the waiting area, where doctors will move quickly to treat minor complaints such as a rash. These rooms will allow patients to be treated and discharged without being moved into the treatment stations.

Read the full article on the Marin IJ website.
http://www.marinij.com/article/NO/20150518/NEWS/150519798