Cullman Regional Medical Center Emergency Department
Cullman, Alabama
Cullman Regional Medical Center is located in Cullman, Alabama and serves a population of approximately 150,000 people. When CRMC contracted with Pegasus Emergency Group to manage its growing Emergency Department, Pegasus recruited the first all-residency trained Emergency Physician staff in Alabama. We quickly achieved our goal in this busy department to decrease wait times while adhering to CRMC's long tradition of quality care for the community of Cullman.
Pegasus physicians staff the department 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and patient satisfaction is our top priority. We are committed to seeing 90% of patients within 30 minutes of arrival to the Emergency Department. Pegasus implemented a Fast Track that significantly improved patient flow and reduced time to treatment. Electronic Medical Records and point-of-care were deployed to further improve quality of care.
Patient visits have increased from around 32,000 annually a year ago, to close to 43,000 now - an astounding increase and a key measure of our success. Pegasus has been able to lead the charge, absorbing the volume while keeping the same level of excellence for patient satisfaction, wait times and quality of care. At CRMC, there is door to room when beds are available, bedside registration, standing order use by RN staff and an expedited admission process to help streamline flow. The EMR is completely integrated with lab and radiology and CRMC can brag a paperless system for registration, tracking and nursing and physician documentation.
The ED at Cullman has gained enormous community support. In September 2009, there was a groundbreaking ceremony for a brand new ED at Cullman, which was funded mainly by the Cullman community. By bringing Pegasus on board, CRMC has shown its commitment to significantly raising the standard of care in this critical department, and to the health care needs of the community. Look for continued improvements that will lead to improved patient care and enhanced customer satisfaction.
Neil Schamban MD, FACEP
Medical Director
Medical Director at CRMC's Emergency Department, Dr. Schamban joined Pegasus Emergency group in 2008 after serving at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey as Division Chair of Emergency Medicine. He completed his Internship and Residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in Farmington, CT and a Fellowship in pediatric emergency medicine at Boston Children's Medical Center, Harvard Medical School. He received his Medical Degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA.