Excelsior Springs Hospital is building on its emergency department and is hiring additional Board-Certified Emergency Medicine physicians. The hospital is focused on providing the best care possible for its patients and the emergency department is often the entry point for community members to experience care here.
The hospital’s Emergency Department Director, Dr. Brad Hoffman explained that rural areas are currently seeing a migration toward emergency medicine services. Hospitals and clinics are being forced to close due to labor shortages and reimbursement changes, leaving only the Emergency room open for business in many rural communities. In contrast, urban areas are starting to replace emergency physicians with physician extenders and primary care physicians to cut costs. Being on the periphery of both urban and rural distinctions, Excelsior Springs Hospital has found itself to be in a great position to expand on its emergency medicine platforms.
Excelsior Springs Hospital’s focus has always been on serving the community. Emergency trained physicians, including residents, are coming to Dr. Hoffman, asking how they can be included in the schedule for the Emergency Department. What is the draw? Dr. Hoffman shared “The hospital offers a manageable schedule and manageable clientele of people who have reasonable expectations and are grateful for the care they’re receiving. The hospital has added more specialists, making it easy to coordinate care across departments and that is a great thing for our patients”.
Recently, the hospital has experienced an increase in the numbers of patients utilizing the Emergency Department. The medical complexity – often referred to as acuity – continues to increase. “Our patients are really sick and require a higher level of care and coordination”, says Hoffman. “Our staff love the complexity and appreciate the coordination between departments. Our providers recognize that this hospital is practicing great medicine through patient-focused care and they are excited to be a part of it”.
“We make things work within the parameters of ethics and have a duty to the community of taking care of people. We have been trusted to do the right thing, every time, even when somebody’s not looking. Will it benefit us? Will it get us rich? Probably not, but that’s not why we’re here,” said Dr. Hoffman.
Excelsior Springs Hospital is evolving into something special, and they’re achieving that by putting their patients and community first.