New Fast Track Area
Chief, Emergency Department, Dr. Philip Seton, conducts a tour of the new Fast Track Area of the medical center's Emergency Department.
The Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center’s Emergency Department has taken a giant leap in improving patient wait times and overall outcomes with the grand opening of its new five-bed Fast Track Area.
The new area includes an expanded waiting area, check-in desk, and five individual rooms which provides more patient privacy. It serves Veterans who present with non-life threatening conditions and minor emergencies. According to Chief, Emergency Department, Dr. Philip Seton, “Consider this as an Urgent Care Center that frees the rest of the Emergency Department to care for Veterans who present with serious symptoms such as heart attacks and stroke.”
The new Fast Track Area represents a collaborative effort between the staff of the Emergency Department, Nursing Service, Primary Care, and Specialty Clinics who have all offered their input to Facilities Management Service to make the new area efficient and more interconnected with specialty and follow-up care.
The new rooms are equipped with tele-health capabilities which afford Veterans the opportunity to connect directly with VA community clinics and specialty clinics such as mental health and dermatology. Residents of the medical center’s Community Living Center will also benefit from the Fast Track area’s tele-health capabilities by being able to communicate with an Emergency Department Physician about minor ailments without being transported from their rooms.
The new area is just one part of the ED’s major renovation project which will eventually add 5,000 square feet and 11 new bed spaces to the existing Emergency Department. The overall construction project is expected to be complete in late 2019.
