ER-only center fills region’s care gap

Diley Ridge cuts time to get emergency care

by Suzanne Hoholik
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Diley Ridge emergency physician Mark Denny explains the results of a CT scan to patient Lisa Taylor, center, and her daughter Teressa Taylor, both of Canal Winchester.

Doug Parks had chest pains for four hours on the morning of April 9 before he decided to call a neighbor.

The Canal Winchester man told his neighbor to take him to a new, stand-alone emergency department about 2 miles away.

"I was in the midst of a heart attack," the 64-year-old said.

The Diley Ridge Medical Center staff stabilized Parks and transferred him to Mount Carmel East hospital, where doctors inserted a heart catheter and implanted three stents.

Parks said he believes the nearby emergency department saved his life; it would have taken 30 minutes to drive to a Columbus hospital.

"The void (Diley Ridge) fills between Lancaster and Columbus is just going to be huge for this area," he said.

Diley Ridge is the first free-standing emergency department in central Ohio, and in its first 100 days, it is exceeding expectations in terms of patient volume, according to officials there.

"We thought we would average between 26 to 30 patients when we just opened up," said Jodi A. Wilson, site administrator. "We’re averaging 50 patients a day."

The $35 million facility opened March 16. It’s owned by Mount Carmel Health System and Fairfield Medical Center, the closest full-service hospitals.

Diley Ridge has 10 emergency room beds and 10 inpatient beds for those who need to stay longer for things such as dehydration, generalized bug-bite infections or low-risk chest pains.

Diley Ridge patients have the same ailments as those who go to emergency rooms at full-service hospitals — back and belly pain, cuts, heart attacks, broken bones, Wilson said.

The medical staff includes emergency physicians, nurses, technicians, respiratory therapists and laboratory workers.

The facility also offers scheduled medical services, including mammographies and MRIs.

Officials say the center wasn’t built to ease overcrowding in other hospitals’ emergency rooms as much as it was to fill a gap in an area with a growing population.

"Through meetings in the community over the years, we knew there was a need for emergency services," said Howard Sniderman, chief operating officer at Fairfield Medical Center.

Diley Ridge also helps local emergency medical workers, many of whom had to take patients to hospitals in Columbus.

"We’re using them every opportunity we can," said John Eisel, Violet Township’s fire chief. "It provides quicker, quality care. It also keeps our (ambulances) in the community and ready to respond to the next emergency, if needed."

Eisel hopes the stand-alone emergency department will become a full-service hospital. Officials say that’s the goal.

"That’s certainly the long-term planning that went into place," said Brett Justice, vice president of strategic development at Mount Carmel.

He said Diley Ridge sits on 55 acres — plenty of room to expand.

Services will be added slowly, such as outpatient services including ambulatory surgery. But don’t expect a catheterization lab, which is what Parks ultimately needed.

"Both (hospital systems) have a pretty large heart business, a cardiac business, and we wouldn’t want to take away from that," Sniderman said.

This model has been successful in other parts of the state, including Youngstown and Cincinnati, where stand-alone emergency departments have evolved into full-service hospitals, he said.

Parks said he is glad Diley Ridge was so close when he needed it. He has since gone back to the facility to thank the staff.

"It opened my eyes to the quality of people we have in health care," Parks said.