The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), with support from The Gary and Mary West Health Institute and John A. Hartford Foundation, implemented the Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation (GEDA) program to recognize those emergency departments that provide excellent care for older adults. We are excited to announce that UConn John Dempsey Hospital Emergency Department has achieved the silver standard — Level 2 GEDA accreditation, the only hospital in Hartford County to hold this accreditation.

Led by a remarkable team of interdisciplinary leaders, including Dr. Matthew Babcock, Geriatric ED Physician Champion, Shannon Curtis, RN, Geriatric ED Nurse Champion, Beata Labunko, Wendy Martinson, RN and Jan Marie Anderson, as well as many other colleagues; UConn John Dempsey Hospital’s accreditation signals to the public that our institution is focused on the highest standards of care for our communities’ older adults.

The GEDA program is the culmination of years of progress in the emergency care of older adults. In 2014, ACEP along with the 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.

“I am so proud of and grateful to the team and the hard work that went into the accreditation,” says Caryl Ryan, COO, UConn John Dempsey Hospital, CNO, Vice President, Quality and Patient Care Services and Interim Vice President, Patient Experience.  “This is tremendous for the hospital and the patients who are cared for here.”

Babcock, with support from the chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at UConn John Dempsey Hospital, Dr. Robert Fuller, played a key role in formalizing guidelines and data tracking-focused efforts to standardize practices and improve the quality of emergency care for elderly patients. Curtis’s focus had a big impact on geriatric care and staff education.

Older adults visit emergency departments at a high rate, they often present with multiple chronic conditions and face more social and physical challenges than the general population.

“No one wants to have their senior loved one in an Emergency Department. Knowing that the UConn ED has made a special effort to build a space and put into practice systems which can support a geriatric ED visit, should make families feel better.  The GED accreditation reflects our commitment to make the care sensitive to the special needs of the senior members of our community,” says Fuller.

“Our focus is to take excellent care and improve outcomes for the geriatric population who often have complex health issues that require specialized approaches,” says Curtis.

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 can meet. A Level 2 emergency department must incorporate many of these best practices, along with providing interdisciplinary geriatric education and having geriatric-appropriate equipment and supplies available.

To improve patient outcomes, we must provide standardized approaches to care that address common geriatric issues, ensure optimal transitions of care from the ED to other settings (inpatient, home, community-based care, rehabilitation, long-term care), improve emergency department throughput, make a positive impact on the bottom line, and support geriatric-focused quality improvement.

“As an Accredited Geriatric Emergency Department, John Dempsey Hospital’s protocol-driven approach to geriatric care allows us to provide superior, tailored care,” says Babcock “Seniors who visit our emergency department can be assured that the facility has the necessary expertise, equipment, and personnel in place to provide optimal care. We’re excited that our dedication to this population has been recognized and look forward to many more years of building the best geriatric emergency department.”