Summa Health has a new doctor leading its ER, and he says his goal is to rebuild the department into a model both for patients and for medical students.
Dr. David Seaberg has close to three decades of experience in ERs, both as a physician and in developing residency programs.
He works for U.S. Acute Care Solutions, which last winter took over Summa’s ER following a controversial split with the long-time provider, Summa Emergency Associates. Shortly after that move, the ER lost accreditation for its residency program.
Seaberg says his goal is to re-apply for accreditation next year, and to re-build the ER’s reputation with patients. And he says he’s doing that with moves like having a physician available to check out patients before they’re brought back into the ER.
“When our beds are starting to fill up in the back, instead of patients waiting in our waiting room, we actually see them immediately in triage. We can even start IVs, give medications, start with labs, X-rays; we’re getting care closer to arrival time.”
Seaberg says that’s decreased the percentage of patients leaving without treatment from 4.5 percent down to almost zero. And he says his goal is to re-apply for residency accreditation next summer.
“From my experience in my 30 years in academic medicine,
'There's a very supportive environment both from the hospital and the medical staff. So we feel that we will come off probation as an institution.'
. I have to wait for that before I start applying for the emergency medicine residency.”
If the hospital is re-accredited, Seaberg says the first new class of residents would begin in July, 2019.
