New Ambulance at Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus, Ready to Ease Patient Transfers for Critical Care

Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus, will now have a state-of-the-art ambulance on site to help transfer patients needing critical care services to other acute-care hospitals – ensuring speedy and efficient access to needed care.

Staffed by a Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus (MMCSC) nurse, this Advanced Life Saving (ALS) ambulance features the highest level of equipment for critically ill or injured patients. The ambulance will be driven by EMTs from GEM Ambulance, a leading medical transport company in the region.

The ambulance was provided by Monmouth Ocean Hospital Service Corporation (MONOC) a nonprofit consortium of 15 acute-care hospitals, dedicated to caring for the over 2.8 million residents living within 1,800 square miles along New Jersey’s coast.

“This partnership and the new, onsite ambulance enables a tight transfer mechanism and solid system for getting critical-care patients to where they need to be, quickly and safely,” said Frank J. Vozos, MD, FACS, executive vice president, RWJBarnabas Health and chief executive, Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus. “This is one of many recent enhancements that will help MMCSC better serve our patients and community.”

MONOC members include six hospitals within the RWJBarnabas Health system, as well as other premier facilities.

The new ambulance is just one facet of MMCSC’s commitment to providing outstanding emergency care. With Emergency Department wait times averaging under 10 minutes and patient satisfaction in the 95th percentile, MMCSC ensures top-quality emergency care at urgent-care speed, notes Dr. Vozos.

The hospital’s main Emergency Department includes 29 beds, with an additional eight beds in the Fast Track area. The Emergency Department is equipped to treat any adult, pediatric or geriatric emergency.

Support services include foreign-language interpretation and disability communication devices, on-site emergency psychiatric screenings, poison control affiliations, sexual assault and domestic violence support systems, on-site case management, and access to the entire RWJBarnabas Health network.

As part of MMCSC’s James and Sharon Maida Geriatrics Institute and its commitment to the aging population, MMCSC has implemented a Geriatric Emergency Medicine (GEM) Unit. GEM ensures safe, efficient, specialized medical care for older adults. It features an interdisciplinary team of caregivers trained in geriatric medicine, who stay in close communication with referring physicians; a pharmacist who will review every patients case with pharmacy consultations available during daytime hours; an equipped geriatric sensitive safety environment that provides lowered beds equipped with safety alarms to prevent falls, non-slip floors and calm lighting; and consultations with a board-certified geriatrician.

For its youngest patients, MMCSC has teamed with The Unterberg Children’s Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center (MMC) to provide the fastest and highest level of emergency care. MMCSC’s Pediatric Emergency Department features a designated, child-friendly pediatric-designated treatment area in the Emergency Department, with colorfully decorated treatment rooms equipped with televisions and Wi-Fi internet access. The Pediatric Emergency Department is staffed by full-time, board-certified emergency medicine physicians, nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants who are experienced in treating infants and children. When necessary, a pediatric subspecialist from The Unterberg Children’s Hospital at MMC will be contacted to review and asses the plan of care for infants and children. Children who require more complex levels of care will be transported seamlessly to The Unterberg Children’s Hospital.

For more information call the MMCSC Emergency Department at 732.886.4525.

About Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus

Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus is an acute-care community hospital located in Lakewood, Ocean County. An RWJBarnabas Health facility, Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus merged with Monmouth Medical Center, a teaching hospital located in Long Branch, Monmouth County, in 2014. The hospitals are dedicated to improving the health and well-being of the communities they proudly serve through expanded access to specialty outpatient services that focus on preventive medicine and healthy living. The partnership has also expanded patients' access to geriatric and pediatric emergency services, as well as outpatient neurology, oncology and geriatric services. Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus has converted to all private rooms, which makes it the only provider in the region with all private rooms for overnight stays. For more information about Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus, visit www.barnabashealth.org/mmcsc.

About MONOC

MONOC Mobile Health Services is a non-profit hospital cooperative consisting of 15 acute care hospitals located throughout New Jersey. Formed in 1978, MONOC’s mission is to improve healthcare and reduce member costs. Together this shared services consortium acts as a healthcare cooperative for these acute care hospitals and over 2.8 million residents that they serve living in more than 1,800 square miles of the Garden State. Among its numerous service lines, MONOC operates MICU Paramedic Services, Helicopter interfacility and 911 services, Mobile Critical Care Services and Basic Life Support interfacility and 911 services. Additionally, MONOC operates the State’s largest EMS education department and a 24/7 state of the art 9-1-1 dispatch center which handled over 146,000 requests for service in 2014.