ATTENTION VISITORS:
Currently, one visitor is also allowed to accompany a patient for care in the Emergency Department. Hospital-issued masks are required.
También se permite un visitante acompañando a un paciente bajo atención en el Departamento de Emergencias. Se requiere el uso de mascarillas proporcionadas por el hospital.
Visiting guidelines are changing frequently. For the most current general/overall hospital visitation hours and policies, please see our Visiting the Hospital page.
Las pautas de visita cambian con frecuencia. Para conocer las políticas y los horarios de visita al hospital generales / generales más recientes, consulte nuestra página Visitando el hospital.
Thank you!

If you are having an emergency and cannot get to a hospital on your own or with someone’s help, dial 911.

Overview

Emergency Department

Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s Emergency Department (ED) is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We staff the ED with responsive, compassionate medical professionals whose goal is to make sure you have the best possible outcome, and we treat all emergency patients regardless of their ability to pay. Last year the ED had just below 34,000 visits.

Clinical Staff

Cooley Dickinson’s ED doctors are specialty trained and board-certified in emergency medicine, having earned advanced specialized training. ED doctors provide individualized care, and coordinate care with a patient’s primary care doctor when appropriate. Additional staff members include nurse practitioners, physician assistants and emergency-care nurses certified in trauma care, advanced cardiac response and pediatric life support. Support teams include technicians, administrative support and patient observers who also assist in providing timely, compassionate care.

Experts on Call

Cooley Dickinson’s Emergency Department has access to specialists who can be mobilized in minutes to respond to life-threatening conditions, including:

Cooley Dickinson is certified by the Department of Public Health as a primary stroke center.

Stroke Program: Every Second Counts

Cooley Dickinson ED Stroke Protocol: Learn how to recognize a stroke; identify stroke risk factors & tools for prevention; and get a preview of what happens if you are transported to Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s Emergency Department with a suspected stroke.


Transforming Emergency Care

About the Transforming Emergency Care Campaign

Gifts to the Emergency Department will support more and better designed spaces and increased privacy for patient care; faster access to computerized tomography (CT) scans; improved coordination of care to allow face-to-face communication between providers and nurses; and more patient rooms.

In addition, the following improvements are planned:

  • Enhanced Geriatric Care. Our community is aging, with the percentage of Hampshire County’s population over age 60 expected to triple from 10% in 2010 to 32% by 2023. Currently, older adults make up 32% of Cooley’s Emergency Department patients. Older adults’ need for emergency care increases with age, as does the complexity of their conditions. Cooley Dickinson is proud to have recently received accreditation as a Level 3 Geriatric Emergency Department, but that is the highest level we can achieve with the current space limitations. Geriatric-friendly renovations that will allow us to achieve higher levels of accreditation will be incorporated wherever possible.
  • Larger Behavioral Health Pod. Hampshire County has a high rate of mental health hospitalizations, with 1,037 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents compared to 853 per 100,000 for the state. Given this, Cooley Dickinson’s current behavioral health pod, while state-of-the-art, is half the necessary size. Increasing the number of these specialized spaces will create a healing environment that respects the privacy of all.
  • Pediatric Observation Unit. 40% of Cooley’s Emergency Department visits are from children. Renovations will include creating a specialized observation unit for our youngest patients when they need to stay in the department overnight.
  • Streamlined Admission Process. When it comes to medical care, privacy is always critically important. This project includes renovations to the admissions area that further demarcates this space from the waiting area, increasing patients’ sense of privacy and improving their admission experience.

The groundbreaking for the Emergency Department renovations is expected to begin at the end of 2022.

Don’t Delay Your Care

Dr. Khama Ennis, Associate Chief of Emergency Medicine at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, urges you not to ignore symptoms for fear of COVID-19.