Riddle Hospital Unveils Unique Emergency Service

"Riddle Hospital Builds Delaware County's ONE-of-a KIND Rapid Evaluation Unit"

Media, PA- July 24, 2012: Riddle Hospital opened the doors to a newly constructed space adjacent to the Emergency Department (ED), welcoming employees and physicians to walk through the rooms and learn about the new unit and process which will be in place for visitors to the ED beginning July 30. The Rapid Evaluation Unit (REU) incorporates a process that is designed to relieve wait times and improve efficiency, with a strong focus on enhancing the patients’ experience in a place that, because of illness or injury, can often be stressful.

 The goal of the REU is to:

• Reduce wait times for non-critical patients brought to the Emergency Department
• Utilize a team approach so that diagnosis and care can begin faster
• Bring critically ill patients immediately to the Main ED
• Provide a comfortable waiting room with nurse supervision after evaluation in REU
• Improve patient flow both for discharged and admitted patients

“We are excited to offer this new space and innovative process designed to enhance the experiences for patients who visit our Emergency Department,” said Michael Goodyear, D.O., Director of Emergency Medicine at Riddle. “With important goals to decrease wait times and streamline our patient flow, we hope that our efforts will showcase the teamwork involved in providing efficient and excellent care for the community.” 

 The REU is Phase I of a two phase project of Emergency Department expansion for Riddle. First designed in 1980 to handle 22,000 patients in a year, the present ED is seeing roughly 32,000 patients yearly with expectations to reach 40,000 in the very near future. Phase II will be the construction of more ED space and renovation of the present department to meet the needs of the growing community, with a focus on patient comfort, efficiency and safety.

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