Edward Hospital: ER wait times available through text message, online and phone

Edward Hospital is among the first hospitals in the country to make Emergency Room wait times available via text message, online and by phone.

People can text, click, or call to find out how quickly they'll begin treatment in Edward's ER in Naperville, 801 S. Washington St. and the Edward Plainfield ER 24/7, 127th St. and Van Dyke Rd.:

• Text: "ERwait" to 41411
• Click: www.edward.org (the blue ER wait time banner is displayed in the upper right corner of the home page)
• Call: (630) 527-5969

"Text messaging is the most practical way to find out how long the ER wait happens to be.  You never know where you'll be when an emergency strikes, but chances are you'll have access to a cell phone," says Tom Scaletta, MD, medical director, Edward Hospital emergency department.  "Every hour of every day is different.  We're providing wait times so you know what to expect."

Edward's ER wait times are calculated by averaging the time from when a patient arrives and checks in to the time they are placed in a room where treatment begins, commonly referred to as the "door to treatment area" time.  The wait times are updated every 15 minutes.

"Of course, patients are triaged based on the severity of their illness," says Dr. Scaletta.  "And, in a medical emergency, we always want patients to call 911."

Numerous factors contribute to Edward's ability to provide such timely care:

• Near immediate triage of patients
• All board certified emergency physicians
• All board certified pediatric emergency physicians
• Among the highest percentage of certified emergency nurses for any ER in the country
• Assistance for people as they arrive to guide them to the proper location
• All private patient treatment rooms
• A pod layout which enables more efficient treatment of patients
• Electronic tracking of patient status, location and tests

Patients notice the timeliness and quality of treatment in Edward's ER, which was recognized as the most preferred for ER services in the region according to a 2009 National Research Corporation survey and rated among the top one percent of hospitals with more than 50,000 ER patients for patient satisfaction in an independent Press Ganey survey in 2008.  Edward's ER treated nearly 75,400 patients in calendar year 2009, the most outside Chicago and Cook County, according to the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council.

For those situations that don't require an ER, Edward has Immediate Care facilities in Bolingbrook, 130 N. Weber Rd. and Oswego, Route 34 and Orchard Rd. and a weekend Edward Medical Group Walk-In Clinic at 15905 Frederick St. in Plainfield.

Patients and families are encouraged to check with their insurance company well before an urgent situation arises to be familiar with their plan's coverage for both emergency and immediate care situations.