Edward Hospital’s phone app reports ER wait times
The 4-1-1 for a 9-1-1: Edward Hospital ER medical director Dr. Tom Scaletta shows the hospital's new phone app that communicates ER wait times. | Mary Compton~For Sun-Times Media
Edward Hospital: Through The Years
Edward opened in 1907 as the Edward Sanitorium, one of the first treatment centers for tuberculosis in the Great Lakes region. After tuberculosis was brought under control, Edward officially opened as a community, not-for-profit hospital on Oct. 1, 1955, with 45 beds.
In 1988, the arrival of Pamela Meyer (now Pamela Davis) as president and chief executive officer marked the beginning of an era of dramatic and continuous growth and innovation at Edward Hospital.
Under Davis’ direction, Edward has evolved into a full-service, regional healthcare provider with 309 private patient rooms and 4,400 employees, including 1,350 nurses and a medical staff of 1,000 physicians.
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It can be really tough to remain level-headed during a medical emergency. But a healthy dose of reassurance may be as close as your pocket or purse.
Edward Hospital is hoping a new mobile phone app will alleviate some of the stress patients frequently associate with a trip to the emergency room.
The hospital has launched an iPhone app, which allows users to quickly find wait times at its emergency rooms in Naperville and Plainfield and view information about Edward’s Immediate Care locations in Bolingbrook and Oswego.
To download the Edward wait times app, which is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, visit www.edward.org/erwaittimes and click on the Edward ER app icon or search “Edward ER” in the App Store.
The new app complements a host of communication tools that are already available to Edward patients.
In addition to finding wait times via the app, people can text “ERwait” to 41411, click www.edward.org, or call (630) 527-5969 to find out how quickly they’ll begin treatment in Edward’s ER in Naperville, 801 S. Washington St. and the Edward Plainfield ER 24/7, 127th St. and Van Dyke Road.
“Our ER wait times help reduce some of the stress of an ER visit because patients and their families know what to expect,” said Dr. Tom Scaletta, medical director, Edward Hospital emergency department.
“The iPhone app and text messaging are the most practical ways to find out how long the ER wait happens to be.”
Edward was among the first hospitals in the country to make ER wait times available.
The wait times are calculated by averaging the time from when a patient arrives and checks in to the time they are placed in a room where treatment begins, commonly referred to as the “door to treatment area” time. The wait times are updated every 15 minutes.
“If you have a serious problem like chest pain, there is no wait, no matter what the average wait time at the moment happens to be. The main thing we do in the Edward ER is staff appropriately, with skilled, compassionate doctors and nurses, one of the many reasons we’re among the best ERs in the country for quality and satisfaction,” said Dr. Scaletta.
Edward’s ERs, including a Kids’ ER in Naperville, treated 87,250 patients in fiscal year 2011, among the most for hospitals in the Chicago area and state of Illinois.
Edward’s Emergency Department is a recipient of the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) first annual Lantern Award, which is given to ERs that exemplify exceptional and innovative performance in the core areas of leadership, practice, education, advocacy and research. Edward is one of 20 healthcare providers in the country, and one of only two in Illinois, to earn the Lantern recognition.
For those situations that don’t require an ER, Edward has Immediate Care facilities in Bolingbrook, 130 N. Weber Road, and Oswego, Route 34 and Orchard Road, and a weekend Edward Medical Group Walk-In Clinic at 15905 Frederick St. in Plainfield.
“You never know where you’ll be when an emergency strikes, but chances are you’ll have access to a device that can tell you the wait times,“ Scaletta said. “Every hour of every day is different. We’re providing wait times so you know what to expect.”
For more information about Edward’s ER wait times and Edward’s Emergency and Immediate Care services in the west and southwest suburbs, visit www.edward.org/er.