8/11/2009

Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital Emergency Department Opens Tomorrow

(Louisville, KY)  Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital (SMEH) will be ready to again serve south Louisville’s 177,000 residents with the reopening of their emergency department tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. The lab and radiology departments will open as well, which are key components to support the emergency department services.

“We have our team members and local and national vendors to thank for getting us back up and running to serve the community in such a quick manner,” said Tom Gessel, president/CEO of SMEH.  “From IT, telephone/fax equipment, copiers, office and hospital supplies and equipment, cleaners, food services, hospital equipment, temporary boilers, generators and more – people have been working around the clock to make the reopening of the emergency department happen so quickly.  We are truly thankful.”  

“We know that Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital has the second busiest emergency department in the city and how important it is to the south Louisville community to be back up as soon as possible,” said Dr. Robert Couch, Emergency Department Medical Director.  “I look forward to being back in the St. Mary’s ED providing treatment to our patients.”  Dr. Couch is with Southern Emergency Medical Specialists, a group of emergency medical physicians who provides support to SMEH.

Couch added, “Our organization is really blessed because we were able to function as a whole system and use a number of our locations throughout the city to provide treatment for our patients who are our first priority.  At every level, from physicians, to nurses, to administrators, to support services personnel, the team approach made all this happen.”

Other Areas Now Open:
Women’s Center opened today at 11 a.m.
All physician offices
Sleep Center 502-554-3537 (temporary number)
Wound Healing Center 502-439-7275 (temporary number)
Frazier Rehab Institute at SMEH 502-439-9585 (temporary number)
SMEH Surgery Center (outpatient surgery) 502-366-9525
Diabetes Education Center at SMEH Plaza I, Suite 202B

Last year SMEH provided treatment for nearly 45,000 emergency department patients, over 12,000 inpatients and performed more than 10,200 surgeries.

SMEH team members and physicians continue to provide support elsewhere in the Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare system where patients were transferred, primarily to Jewish Hospital and Jewish Hospital Medical Center Southwest. In addition, Jewish Hospital opened several new beds and units to provide medical care for patients.  Many of the SMEH physicians, nurses, and clinical staff are working on site at Jewish Hospital to care for the transferred patients and other patients from the south Louisville community.

Clean up continues to prepare the hospital for reopening with multiple contractors and vendors on site and emergency generators and a temporary boiler in place to provide power and steam.

The telephone number for community members to call for updates as they become available is 502-407-3069.  Information can be found by visiting jhsmh.org/smehupdates, as well as through our facebook page (facebook.com/jewishhospital) and twitter.com/jewishhospital. 

Photo and interview opportunities are available to the media.

Dr. Robert Couch, Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital Emergency Department Medical Director talks about the reopening of the Emergency Department on WAVE TV on August 12, 2009.  SMEH is the second busiest emergency department in the city.
Click to view

ABOUT STS. MARY & ELIZABETH HOSPITAL
Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital, is a 331-bed primary care hospital offering advanced treatment in cancer, cardiac care, lung disease, orthopaedics, vascular and general surgery and emergency services. Serving the south Louisville community for more than a century, Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital has literally cared for generations of families in this community. And our network of care is more than 30 facilities strong. One-hundred thirty-one years. Thousands of needs, millions of blessings. That is our history and the future.

###