On July 1, Washington University faculty physicians assumed responsibility for providing medical care in the Emergency Department at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital. The addition of Washington University emergency medicine physicians continues the enhancement of clinical services at Barnes-Jewish West County.
“We continue to offer the highest quality health care to residents of West County,” said Andy Ziskind, M.D., president of Barnes-Jewish and Barnes-Jewish West County hospitals. “Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital and Washington University are committed to providing prompt, skilled and compassionate care to patients seeking emergency services.”
“We are pleased to have the opportunity to provide emergency medicine services at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital,” said Brent E. Ruoff, M.D., director of the division of emergency medicine at the School of Medicine. “We are committed to providing outstanding care to West County residents.”
Barnes-Jewish West County recently renovated its emergency department using LEAN/Six Sigma processes. Through those techniques, the new emergency department has decreased patient wait times to a minimum. The addition of the WUSTL emergency medicine physicians puts Barnes-Jewish West County in a unique position to offer experienced, skilled emergency care with shorter wait times.
A new cardiac monitoring unit recently opened at Barnes-Jewish West County, expanding the scope of patients able to be treated in the emergency department. “Having a dedicated unit for heart monitoring means patients with chest pain can be evaluated in the emergency department and admitted for monitoring, if required,” Ruoff said.
Randall A. Howell, D.O., assistant professor of emergency medicine, was named medical director of the Barnes-Jewish West County emergency department. He has been a member of the faculty for 12 years and will supervise a team of 11 emergency medicine physicians.
Besides Howell, other physicians in the Barnes-Jewish West County emergency department include David Davis, M.D.; Joseph Gatewood, M.D.; Thomas Hill, M.D.; Bill Koller, M.D.; Patel Ketan, M.D.; Christopher Sampson, M.D.; Sidney Sineff, M.D.; Rick Tao, M.D.; Brian Bausano, M.D.; Christopher Holthaus, M.D., and Karen Maury, M.D.
The new arrangement for coverage of emergency medicine services is part of a plan to evolve and enhance the scope of clinical care provided by WUSTL physicians with private medical staff on the Barnes-Jewish West County campus.
Among the clinical offerings available now, or soon, are the full range of adult and pediatric medical specialists, selected surgery services and a major expansion of the Siteman Cancer Center.
The School of Medicine’s Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology already provides full subspecialty radiology services, including X-ray, ultrasound, MRI, CT, PET scans, mammography, bone density, nuclear medicine and some aspects of pediatric radiology at Barnes-Jewish West County. Advanced imaging services such as musculoskeletal ultrasound, breast MRI, 3-D imaging and advanced visualization analysis also are available.
Other enhanced services that will be added this year include cardiac CT, virtual colonoscopy, ultrasound and CT guided biopsies, interventional radiology procedures and breast procedures. All subspecialty imaging services available at the Washington University Medical Center are available at Barnes-Jewish West County. Vamsi Narra, M.D., recently was named chief of radiology at Barnes-Jewish West County.