BEAUMONT, Texas — Christus St. Elizabeth is implementing a new "Fast Track" system in its emergency room to help cut down on wait times.
The hospital has added four nurse practitioners to treat patients with non-life threatening injuries, for patients who are used to waiting hours for care, this is a welcome change.
"It always seems longer when they are crying or screaming so minutes feel like hours," said Katie Young.
Mark and Katie Young enjoy watching their three children splash around at at Rogers Park in Beaumont.
However, in an emergency those smiles can quickly turn upside down with a trip to the ER.
"We've been three times to the to the ER for various things, broken ankles, sprained ankles, we've had stitches," said Mark Young.
Most ER patients can spend hours waiting for care, but for the last month Christus Saint Elizabeth has been using a new ER program called "Fast Track."
"What we were seeing was that patients that had those minor illnesses and injuries were waiting longer. What we are doing differently is having dedicated nurse and practitioner for our patients who are lower acuity," said Jenny Kelly, Administrative Director for Emergency Services.
Kelly says ER peak times range from noon to 5 p.m.
This new "Fast Track" program is cutting down those wait times by one to three hours according to Kelly.
"We have four nurse practitioners. one may be that provider in triage that's screening those patients from the time they walk in. another one is in that low acuity area," said Kelly.
For patients like the Young family it's a welcome change.
"Anything that would fast track anything medically related is always very helpful we do tend to dread long wait times," said Mark Young.
Kelly says that right now they are only using the "Fast Track" system between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. but the hospital plans to make it a 24 hour service within the next six months.