The emergency department at Advocate Christ Medical Center is organized as an autonomous medical staff department. Administratively this equates the emergency department with any other department.

The department is staffed with 24 full-time, hospital-based attending physicians. All are residency-trained in emergency medicine. Full-time faculty coverage is augmented by part-time emergency medicine residency-trained physicians. Attending staff is present in the emergency department 24 hours a day, with two to five attendings present 24 hours a day. This ensures easy access to the staff and ample opportunity for resident-attending interaction.

The emergency department at Christ Medical Center is located in a state-of-the-art facility occupying 29,000 square feet. The facility includes dedicated trauma, medical resuscitation, critical care, OB/ GYN, ophthalmologic, ENT, observation and quick-care areas.

The majority of patients coming to the emergency department have a private physician on the Christ Medical Center staff; however, while these patients are in the emergency department, their care is the responsibility of the emergency department physicians. Therefore, the emergency department staff assesses and manages patients with true emergencies, less acute illnesses or injuries requiring admission and varied outpatient problems.

Payor mix is 45 percent managed care, 17 percent Medicare, 20 percent self-pay, 10 percent public aid and 8 percent commercial insurance.

Christ Medical Center has the second busiest emergency department in Illinois, treating nearly 76,000 patients per year. The acuity is much higher than the national average, with the emergency department admitting 28-30 percent of the patients seen.

Also, 30 to 33 percent of cases seen in the emergency department are younger than age 20. Recognizing this high volume, the department supports three faculty members who are board-certified in pediatrics and emergency medicine.

The emergency department has access to many ancillary services. Emergency department laboratory requests are treated in a “stat” manner. Four CT scanners are located adjacent to the emergency department, where emergency department patients receive priority. A radiologist is present around the clock to review all emergency department radiologic procedures and provide consultation to the emergency department staff. Social workers and chaplains also are available in the emergency department most of the day.

The pre-hospital emergency medical service is an integral part of Christ Medical Center. The emergency department is responsible for the medical direction and training of paramedics. Emergency medicine residents provide field medical direction via telemetry radio to paramedics for 24 fire departments and ambulance companies. Residents also provide didactic instruction in the paramedic training course and clinical supervision to paramedics rotating in the emergency department. Residents also gain field experience by riding with paramedics.