Local bride walks safely down the aisle thanks to Inova ER, Orthopedic and PT teams

A Successful Walk Down the Aisle

A local bride-to-be broke her ankle badly enough to require orthopedic surgery. Thank goodness the Inova Alexandria ER, Orthopedic, and Physical Therapy teams helped coordinate her care to ensure she was safe and stable on her wedding day.

One afternoon, a few months before her wedding last year, Brooke ran to rescue her dog from another canine at a dog park and broke her ankle. Thankfully, she went to the Inova Alexandria Hospital Emergency Room.

After she received care to stabilize her broken bone, the emergency team at Inova Alexandria Hospital (IAH) referred her to Edward S. Chang, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at Inova, for evaluation. When imaging tests revealed that Brooke would need immediate surgery to repair her ankle, Dr. Chang performed the surgery. He “took the time to go through the physical therapy and all the things that I would need to do to make sure that I was good to go by my wedding in April,” says Brooke.

Over the next few months, Brooke wore a boot over her ankle to provide the support she needed. When her big day finally arrived, she was able to wear a special brace that fit inside her shoe. Everything went exactly as planned.

From ER to Specialist Referral

“When a referral to a specialist is needed from the Emergency Department, we have easy and quick access to a large number of well-trained specialists,” says Martin H. Brown, MD, FACEP, Director of Emergency Medicine at IAH, which, in 1961 became the first hospital in the country to staff its ED with full-time physicians 24 hours a day. “We have the resources to treat patients of all ages with any type of emergency complaint.”

Northern Va “Eastern Region”: 4 Options for Emergency Rooms

Brooke’s story is typical of the expert care patients can expect to receive at any of the four ERs in the Eastern Region:

• Inova Alexandria Hospital
• Inova Mount Vernon Hospital
• Inova HealthPlex – Franconia/Springfield
• Inova HealthPlex – Lorton

“The community can feel very confident that they will receive the right emergency care by the right specialist at the right time at any of these four sites,” adds Dr. Brown. “These are four very capable and aligned departments that span the field of emergency medicine. They are all staffed by a trained group of professionals that can take care of any emergency need.”

When a patient seen at IMVH needs stroke or heart attack care, for example, they can be transferred within minutes to IAH’s interventional catheterization lab via Physicians Transport Service, a private emergency medical services provider.

Comments Rett Embrey, MD, IMVH Chair of Emergency Services: “I am privileged to work with an amazing group of physicians, who can expertly treat a wide range of medical conditions. Our team is good at what we do and grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of our community.”

“If a patient needs an intervention of any sort, we have those capabilities conveniently located at these four facilities,” adds Dr. Brown. “And we have expert processes in place to minimize delay in transfer and to expedite the movement of patients to the right level of care with the necessary specialty expertise. It’s a coordinated effort.”

Each ED is backed by the full resources of Inova, including critical care ambulance transport to Inova Fairfax Medical Campus (the region’s only tertiary care center) if a higher level of care is required. Both IAH and IMVH have recently earned “Gold Plus Elite Status” awards from the American Stroke Association for fast, effective stroke treatment when every second counts.

For more common cuts, sprains and strains, Inova’s EDs offer special fast-tracked “streamlined care”services that ensure expedited care for cases involving more routine emergencies. And on-site, 24-hour imaging and lab services ensures faster diagnoses to help get patients back home more quickly.

Seamless Care via Epic Electronic Medical Records

One of the key factors in coordinating care is consistent communication among caregivers at the four facilities. When a patient is transferred from one ED to another to receive specialized treatment, the team has instant access to the patient’s medical records.

“We’re using the same electronic health record — Epic — across these four sites, allowing us to be able to view the patients’ care, wherever it was delivered,” says Dr. Brown.

If a patient is admitted to one of the hospitals following emergency care, the emergency staff collaborates with the hospital staff and community physicians for follow-up to prevent unnecessary returns to the ED.

“A key part of what we do in emergency medicine is to take care of the acute episode and then arrange for the proper follow-up so our patients can get the right care in the right setting after they leave our department,” says Dr. Brown.

Know Where to Go: Inova ER Wait Times

Visit www.inova.org/ER to check the average wait time at any Inova emergency facility. And the new Inova app not only lets you access emergency wait times, but also a wide range of other health information right from your mobile device. Download the new Inova app, available for free.

Inova ERs in Northern Virginia’s Eastern Region

Inova’s four Eastern Region emergency facilities are conveniently located close to where you live, work and play:
Inova Alexandria Hospital
4320 Seminary Rd.
Alexandria, VA 22304
703-504-3066

Inova Mount Vernon Hospital
2501 Parkers Lane
Alexandria, VA 22306
703-664-7000

Inova HealthPlex – Lorton
9321 Sanger St.
Lorton, VA 22079
703-982-8324

Inova HealthPlex – Franconia/Springfield
6355 Walker Lane
Alexandria, VA 22310
703-797-6800