Aurora BayCare acknowledged as the nation's first "Emergency Center of Excellence"

Aurora BayCare Medical Center is the first U.S. hospital to be verified as an Emergency Center of Excellence by Emergency Excellence (EmEx), a company specializing in emergency department benchmarking.

emer awardAt the annual meeting of the American College of Emergency Physicians in Boston, Emergency Excellence recognized Aurora BayCare Medical Center's dedication to excellent emergency care. EmEx developed the award in response to the 2006 Institute of Medicine's call for emergency medicine improvement and to motivate emergency care providers to achieve a higher standard of quality.

Eligibility for the Emergency Center of Excellence is based on the results of over 100 key performance indicators linked to seven Pillars of Excellence (Safety, Satisfaction, Space, Staff, Support, Systems, and Solvency). Emergency Excellence collects benchmark data and surveys physicians, nurses, hospital staff, medical staff, and administrators. The Emergency Center of Excellence award is verified after an on-site assessment.

"Aurora BayCare, our first award recipient, set the bar for everyone else to strive for," said Dr. Tom Scaletta, President of Emergency Excellence. "Emergency medicine is a team effort and their strengths and accomplishments are amazing. Northeastern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan residents can rest assured that that they are in good hands when emergencies occur." Dr. Mark Reiter, CEO of Emergency Excellence, notes, "Aurora BayCare is doing a fantastic job of providing safe, high-quality, and efficient emergency care."

"I am exceedingly proud of our emergency department," remarked Dr. Paul Summerside, an Aurora BayCare board member and practicing emergency physician. "It takes tremendous coordination to pull this off. In addition to the emergency department staff, we are indebted to our support services, like laboratory and radiology. As well, we are fortunate to have such responsive and capable primary care and consulting physicians."

Did you know? On average, 46 minutes are spent waiting to see an emergency physician. At Aurora BayCare, patients see an emergency physician who is board certified in emergency medicine in just 15 minutes from arrival.

About Emergency Excellence (EmEx):

Emergency Excellence was founded in 2008 to help hospitals recognize excellence in emergency care. EmEx measures emergency department performance through benchmarking, stakeholder surveys, patient callbacks, and other business excellence services. EmEx awards the Emergency Center of Excellence award to top-performing emergency departments. More information about EmEx can be found at www.emergencyexcellence.com.