Urgent Care Center Opening Soon
By Aiden Orton, Beacon Intern
Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center’s Urgent Care Center will be opening for the first time on Monday, Nov. 1 at 10 a.m. in West Burlington.
Urgent Care services are necessary medical services that are required for an injury or illnesses that would not result in death or physical disability if not treated immediately, but require professional treatment and attention within 24 hours.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency rooms have been pushed to their limits. Patients waiting for the emergency room should be prepared to wait hours upon hours to be seen. An Urgent Care Center can alleviate the pressure of rising numbers of patients seeking emergency treatment.
Urgent Care Centers can also provide many routine treatments, such as vaccinations and diagnostics.
Hospital Earns Recognition
By Beacon Staff
Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center’s West Burlington campus has received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® EMS Gold Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures to treat patients who suffer severe heart attacks.
Each year, more than 250,000 people experience an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI),the deadliest type of heart attack, caused by a blockage of blood flow to the heart that requires timely treatment.
The American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline program helps reduce barriers to prompt treatment for heart attacks – starting from when 9-1-1 is called, to EMS transport and continuing through hospital treatment and discharge. Optimal care for heart attack patients takes coordination between the individual hospital, EMS and healthcare system.
“EMTs and paramedics play a vital part in the system of care for those who have heart attacks,” said Tim Henry, MD, chair of the Mission: Lifeline Acute Coronary Syndrome Subcommittee. “Since they often are the first medical point of contact, they can save precious minutes of treatment time by activating the emergency response system that alerts hospitals to an incoming heart attack patient.”