Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center
Emergency Care Center
Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center Emergency Care Center is focused on providing exquisite service to patients with shorter length of stays. The Emergency Care Center consists of 24 beds, including six Fast-track beds. Emergency physicians are board certified and serve approximately 35,000 patients a year. All emergency nurses have received Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Trauma, and Pediatric certifications.
Emergency Care Center Patient and User Guide
Patient Information
We continuously improve health in our community through teamwork and compassionate care.
The staff and physicians at Williamsburg Regional Medical Center's Emergency Care Center are committed to providing highly skilled emergency care and service to the patients and family members who come to the Center. This guide is designed to explain what is happening while you are here and to provide information that will help you obtain follow-up care.
Reception, Triage, & Registration
Your first stop will be the reception desk to sign in. The receptionist will ask you the nature of your illness and notify the triage nurse that you are here. The triage nurse is the person who will provide your initial assessment and prioritize your care. You will then go to registration, where you need to provide your insurance card, identification, personal information such as your address, phone number, Social Security number, next of kin, guarantor, permission to be treated and whether you have an advance directive such as a living will. The order in which you will receive treatment in the Emergency Care Center is based on the severity of your condition. Once your triage is complete, you will be asked to be seated in the waiting area until you can be seen in the treatment area.
Please notify the receptionist if you must leave the waiting room for any reason.
If your condition changes while you are in the waiting area, notify the triage nurse immediately.
The Treatment Area
As soon as space becomes available you will be taken to an exam room. After your initial examination, you may be taken to the Radiology Department for x-rays. You then will be returned to the exam room, where you will be asked to wait until test results or x-rays are analyzed. When this diagnostic work is complete, the Emergency Care Center staff will discuss your condition with you and prescribe a course of treatment that could include your release from the Center, admission to the Hospital, or transfer to another facility for specialty care.
Discharge Center from the Emergency Care Center
If you will be leaving the Emergency Care Center to go home, you will receive instructions for follow-up care, which includes home care instructions and possibly medication prescriptions.
Please follow all of your discharge instructions to ensure your full recovery. Feel free to call the Emergency Care Center at (757) 984-7155 with any questions.
If you are being admitted to Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center, you will be taken by stretcher to your room. There you will meet your nurse and be oriented to that unit of the Hospital. If you need to go to another facility, your transportation options including costs, will be explained to you. You have a choice of which ambulance service you wish to use.
Your Bill
You will receive two bills for your care - one from Williamsburg Regional Medical Center's Emergency Care Center, and another from Williamsburg Emergency Physicians, Inc. for your physician care.
If you have any questions regarding these bills, you should contact the appropriate billing office. For questions relating to the bill, call Patient Accounting at (757) 984-4500. For the Williamsburg Emergency Physicians, Inc. bill, call (800) 238-9286.
If you undergo any x-rays while you are in the Emergency Care Center, you also will receive a separate bill from the radiologist. The radiology bill will have a contact number on it should you have any questions.
The Emergency Care Center Staff
It takes many Emergency Care Center team members to care for emergency patients. At Williamsburg Regional Medical Center's Emergency Care Center, our registrars, technicians, registered nurses, nurse practitioners, physician's assistants and physicians work together with the latest technology to treat the patients who come here for care.
Our team members have undergone extensive, advanced training, which enables them to respond to any emergency quickly. Included on the team are:
* Technicians with advanced EMS experience.
* Registered nurses with advanced cardiac life support certifications and pediatric emergency certifications.
* Advance practice nurse practitioners.
* Physicians assistants
* Board-certified physicians specializing in Family or Emergency Medicine.
Our team is extremely qualified and committed to treating you. Quality service is our goal. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the Emergency Care Center Team Coordinators (757) 984-7177, or the medical director (757) 984-7180.
For Family Members & Visitors to the Emergency Care Center
Please respect staff decisions about whether a patient can have visitors. If visitors are permitted, a maximum of two family members may be with the patient in the treatment area. In the event that a family member must leave the waiting area, the receptionist should be notified. Family members are advised to hold the patient's personal possessions and valuables while the patient is being treated.
For your convenience, the following services are available at Williamsburg Regional Medical Center:
Cafeteria - 1st floor
Pineapple Gift Shop - Entry level (Monticello Lobby)
Mother's Specialty Shop - 1st floor
ATM Entry Level - (Monticello Lobby)
Vending machines Hallway by ECC and Near cafeteria
Restrooms - Every floor
Telephones with TDD machines - Entry level (Monticello Lobby)
Baby changing tables - Monticello Lobby restroom
Questions & Answers
Q. If I have a question, who can help me?
If you are in the waiting area, the registrar can assist you. If the registrar cannot answer your question, he or she will locate the person who can. If you are in the treatment area, your nurse will assist you.
Q. Why was someone who came in after me called first to the treatment area?
In the Emergency Care Center the order of treatment is based on patient acuity. Those patients who are the sickest are seen first. If you have waited longer than the triage nurse's original estimate, see the registrar for an update. Often it means a very ill patient has since come in and the team is working to save the person's life.
Q. What's an advance directive?
It is a legal document, such as a living will, that lets you say ahead of time what kind of health care you want or don't want in a medical emergency.
Q. I'm here with my sick child. Will I be asked to leave him/her during treatment?
No. We encourage you to stay with your child during the entire time he or she is in the Emergency Care Center. If you must leave, please notify the staff immediately that you are arranging to have another adult family member stay with your child.
Q. I think I may be pregnant. Is it really necessary to tell the staff that I could be expecting a baby?
Yes! Exposure to x-rays may be harmful to your pregnancy, as may certain medications. Always make sure to disclose everything concerning your physical condition to the triage nurse and the Emergency Care Center staff.
Q. Is there someone I can call to help my family deal with this crisis?
Williamsburg Regional Medical Center has both a Chaplain and a Crisis Counselor available to assist patients and their family members. Please notify any member of the Emergency Care Center team if you would like assistance.
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