Critical care patients at Memorial Hospital and Manor in Bainbridge and Coffee Regional Medical Center in Douglas are receiving access to additional care and remote monitoring through Emory Healthcare’s eICU (electronic Intensive Care Unit) services, based in Atlanta. The Georgia Department of Community Health awarded each regional/community hospital $450,000 to support this initiative and to purchase needed equipment and set-up eICU services between each hospital and Emory.
From the Emory eICU Center, located at Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital campus in Atlanta, Emory eICU physicians and nurses monitor ICU patients at Memorial Hospital and Manor and Coffee Regional Medical Center remotely, while providing consultation and expertise. The services are a form of telemedicine, using state-of-the-art technology to provide an additional layer of critical care for ICU patients. The continuous, 24/7 monitoring and access to intensivist or critical care physicians and other support staff, particularly on night and weekend shifts, are crucial to smaller regional and community hospitals.
“During night and weekend shifts at smaller outlying hospitals, intensivists may not always be present to assist onsite physicians and providers, so additional resources are often needed to care for some of the sickest patients in a hospital,” says Cheryl Hiddleson, MSN, RN, Emory Healthcare Director of eICU Operations. “Our services provide consult via a video and audio platform to onsite physicians, staff and patients, where we can see and communicate bi-directionally between the regional or community hospital and the Emory eICU Center in Atlanta.”
Memorial Hospital and Manor has six medical/surgical ICU beds that are being monitored remotely by Emory’s eICU Center, while Coffee Regional Medical Center has 10 medical/surgical ICU beds being monitored remotely.
“As an affiliate of Emory Healthcare, we are happy to be part of the Emory eICU network,” says Vicki Lewis, CEO of Coffee Regional Medical Center. “This important service provides an extra set of eyes and additional clinical expertise for our critically ill patients. Our collaboration with Emory permits Coffee Regional Medical Center access to both quality initiatives and state-of-the-art resources for our patients and caregivers.”
Emory eICU Center also provides remote critical care monitoring services to Washington County Regional Medical Center in Sandersville.