For Immediate Release: Aug. 22, 2011

Grady Hospital Opens New Walk-In Center

Center Created to Help Decrease the Number of Non-Emergency ER Visits

Contact: Jennie Olshaske
Phone: (404) 616-7084
E-mail: JOlshaske@gmh.edu

In an effort to decrease the growing number of non-emergent patient visits to its emergency room, Grady Memorial Hospital opened its new Walk-In Center today, Monday, Aug. 22. Located just a short distance from the ER entrance, the nearly $1 million facility was made possible through grants from area foundations.

The center includes 11 exam rooms, an on-site lab and a spacious waiting area. With nearly 100,000 patient visits on average each year to Grady’s emergency department, the center’s goal is to reduce the number of non-emergency ER cases by 25,000 to 30,000.

"The center will help us get patients to the right point of care," says Denise Williams, Executive Vice President of Operations for Grady. "Our goal is to change the culture by providing each patient with a medical home. Each patient will leave the center with an appointment for follow-up with a primary care provider at Grady, our neighborhood health centers or one of the Federally Qualified Health Centers. This will allow both Grady and the patient to save money by treating non-urgent cases in a lower cost setting."

Patients coming to the emergency department seeking care for a non-emergent condition will be encouraged to visit the walk in center for timely, cost-effective care. Patient navigators will be used to help identify patients eligible for care in the new center and will help patients establish a medical home for follow-up visits.

Located at 56 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive in Atlanta, the Grady Walk-In Center will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday

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