Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington (Mass.) opened in 1980, with an emergency department that could accommodate 17,000 patients annually. In 2016, the hospital treated 42,000 patients.
Patients were often lining up on gurneys in the hallways to be treated due to high demand. A disorganized department layout also caused nurses to travel between the exam rooms and supply closets, and first responders were forced to bring in trauma patients through the main door. “EDs are public spaces, and we lacked the privacy to treat patients in a dignified way,” says Dr. Malcom Creighton. He is chair of emergency medicine at LHMC. Megan Burns is a registered nurse and says, “We had no place to put anyone or anything.”
Creighton and Burns along with their colleagues pushed for a new department over many years. Creighton, Burns and their colleagues pushed for a new department for years before it was approved in 2013. Creighton visited many facilities to see the latest ED designs. He knew exactly what he desired: a department which supports the nurse-patient relationship and offers a calm and efficient environment. The doctor was right. A new 45,000 square foot space opened in January.
