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Mullica Hill, NJ, – Inspira Medical Centers Mullica Hill and Vineland, part of Inspira Health, have earned the Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation (GEDA) from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). The GEDA accreditation recognizes those emergency departments that provide excellent care for older adults.
Inspira Medical Centers Mullica Hill and Vineland Emergency Departments, both led by a team of inter-disciplinary leaders, have achieved the bronze standard – Level 3 GEDA accreditation, recognizing that both centers are focused on the highest standards of care for the communities’ older adults.
“This accreditation encompasses a journey filled with staff education and policy development to navigate our senior's complicated medical care. This care is not only for the emergency on hand, but ensuring that these patients have a safe disposition home, access to food, utilities and prescription medications,” said Katie Schultes, M.D., Director, Senior Emergency Department, Inspira Medical Center Mullica Hill. “We are pleased to offer our community a dedicated senior emergency department with a staff that is eager to help seniors navigate this stage in their lives.”
The GEDA program is the culmination of years of progress in emergency care of older adults. In 2014, ACEP along with Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, Emergency Nurses Association, and American Geriatrics Society, developed and released geriatric ED guidelines, recommending measures ranging from adding geriatric-friendly equipment, to specialized staff, to more routine screening for delirium, dementia, and fall risk, among other vulnerabilities.
“The opportunity to provide specialized care to the senior citizens of our community is a privilege,” said Cecylia Kelley, D.O., Director of the Senior Emergency Department at Inspira Medical Center Vineland. “As we age, our needs and the needs of our support system evolve. Inspira recognizes the unique challenges that seniors face and is training a new generation of physicians to meet them in their future practices. Our physicians and staff are eager to care for this rapidly growing population.”
The voluntary GEDA program, which includes three levels similar to trauma center designations, provides specific criteria and goals for emergency clinicians and administrators to target. The accreditation process provides more than two dozen best practices for geriatric care, and the level of GEDA accreditation achieved depends upon how many of these best practices an emergency department is able to meet. A Level 3 emergency department must incorporate many of these best practices, along with providing inter-disciplinary geriatric education, and having geriatric appropriate equipment and supplies available.
About Inspira Health
Inspira Health is a charitable nonprofit health care organization and a regional leader in physician training, with approximately 160 medical residents and fellows in 10 nationally accredited specialty programs. The system, which traces its roots to 1899, comprises three hospitals, two comprehensive cancer centers, several multi-specialty health centers and a total of more than 150 access points. These include urgent care; outpatient imaging and rehabilitation; sleep medicine labs; cardiac testing facilities; digestive health and wound care centers; home care and hospice; and more than 35 primary and specialty physician practices in Gloucester, Cumberland, Salem, Camden and Atlantic counties.
Together with its medical staff of more than 1,300 physicians and other care providers, as well as more than 6,200 employees, Inspira Health provides evidence-based care to help each patient achieve the best possible outcome. Accredited by DNV Healthcare, the system’s clinical and support staffs are focused on providing quality care in a safe environment. For more information about Inspira Health, visit www.InspiraHealthNetwork.org or call 1-800-INSPIRA.
