Thursday, May 22, 2014 - Mason County Journal - Page A-13
EMERGEN
With a close-knit group of doctors, nurses, technicians and staff,
Mason General's Emergency Department treats 22,000
patients each year for everything from minor cuts to major trauma
STORY BY NATALIE JOHNSON I PHOTOS BY TOM HYDE
t's 3:30 p.m. on a
rainy Saturday,
and the Emergency
Department at
Mason General Hospital
is unnervingly quiet.
The theme from "Mission
Impossible" suddenly
blasts out over beeping
heart monitors.
The ringtone for the ED's direct-
line phone from ambulances lightens
the mood in an often stressful and
sometimes traumatic job.
"Every time that goes off and I
hear 93-year-old-female... (I'm re-
lieved) it's not my mother-in-law,"
said Mike Olels, a certified nursing
assistant (CNA) and monitor tech
in the ED. Sitting just feet from the
central doctor's station, he spends
his shifts juggling phones, monitor-
ing patient information on several
screens, and acting as a central hub
of communication.
At the small-town hospital, staff
often see people they know, said
Olels, who has worked at the hospital
for 11 years.
"A lot of people feel more comfort-
able ... when they see a familiar
face," he said.
It's been just over a year since
Mason General Hospital & Family of
Clinics' remodeled Emergency
Department opened to patients.
The remodelinging was part of a
$33 million, three-year Campus Re-
newal project. Phase 1 of the project
added a new main entrance and a
20,000-foot surgical wing. It was
completed in 2012.
The following year, Phase 2 ex-
panded the hospital's diagnostic
imaging department, added an open
MRI unit and upgraded the Emer-
gency Department.
The hospital spent about $2.1 mil-
lion to add 3,500 square feet to the
Emergency Department, doubling its
size, said Eric Moll, CEO of Mason
General Hospital & Family of Clinics.
The entire project was paid for
with hospital operation dollars, he
said ........
-T Ill I I
"It's very important to note
that Level IV and V facilities
play a huge and crucial role
in the trauma system"
As a Level IV Trauma hospital,
Mason General is the first stop for the
most serious cases before an airlift to
Harborview Medical Center, the only
Level 1 trauma center in the state.
The state Department of Health
(DOH) designates five levels of acute
care trauma services. Every three
years, hospitals can apply and com-
pete for trauma service designation.
"It's very important to note that
Level IV and V facilities play a huge
and crucial role inthe.trauma sys-
Dr. Dean Gushee reviews a
CT scan in Mason General
Hospital's Emergency
Department. "You always want
to target a test for a particular
question," he said. "It's a lot
of radiation." CT scans use
radiation to develop images of
a body that can be viewed on
multiple planes. Essentially, it's a
3-D X-ray. "It's as good as having
a surgeon open you up and look
inside." They are useful, but also
dangerous, especially to children,
Gushee noted. A child has a 1
in 4,000 chance of developing
cancer later in life if they receive
a belly CT scan.
t6m," said Anthony Bledsoe, trauma
designation administrator at DOH.
Level IV trauma centers are
tasked with stabilizing patients and
transferring them to hospitals with
more specialized trauma units.
"The idea with these facilities
is they stabilize patients and save
lives," Bledsoe said. "They have
specific roles based on their scope of
service."
Mason General's Emergency De-
partment sees 22,000 patients a year.
"That's pretty big for a Critical
Access Hospital," said Dr. Dean
Gushee, ED medical director and
chief medical officer for Mason Gen-
eral Hospital & Family of Clinics.
continued on next page
