Trip to Emergency Room to Get Shorter for Apex Residents

Apex, N.C. — A ride to the emergency room will be much shorter for many people in and around Apex.

On Monday, the WakeMed Apex Healthplex will open. It's the second, free-standing emergency department in the county. Located at 120 Healthplex Way, it will also have a helipad.

“We really think 25 percent of what we're going to see is going to be pediatrics, based on the number of young families that are in this area,” said Registered Nurse Carolyn Knaup.

There will be 12 treatment rooms, some designed specifically for children. An imaging room with rustic images of old Apex was specially designed to distract young patients from the technology around them.

During the summer of 2005, WakeMed opened its first free-standing emergency department in the north end of Wake County. It saw 28,000 patients last year.

Officials said they expect 32 patients a day in Apex’s new emergency room, which will serve the southwestern end of the county. Another one is under construction in eastern Wake County.

Convenience is what matters to Apex resident Harold Capps.

“It's going to be nice having one closer by,” he said.

The WakeMed Apex Healthplex will hold an open house for the community from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

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understand what your saying j....can't disagree. but, an ER shouldn't be a place where your concerned with getting out quickly, patient turnover, etc. getting out alive and stable seems a little more the point.

aclsman21
February 4, 2008 4:57 p.m.

I must say I agree with the article's common-sense premise -- that it is a GOOD thing for a trip to the emergency room to take LESS time.

It's a shame such a premise is completely at odds with the results of nationalizing healthcare (or "universalizing" it, to use the euphemism du jour), which is a notion inexplicably propounded by most of our presidential candidates this year.

jsanders
February 4, 2008 4:47 p.m.

amen DurhamDude! online pre-registration? for an ER? wow.....as a paramedic, if I ever get called to someone who tells me that they already pre-registered themselves...i'm the one who is going to throw a clot!

aclsman21
February 4, 2008 4:23 p.m.

I like how they have an online pre-registration. If you have time to do the online pre-registration, don't go to the ER. That's what urgent care is for... or your family doctor if they can fit you in.

DurhamDude
February 4, 2008 4:12 p.m.

an ER with only 32 patients a day? LOL....I assume "diversion" is a phrase they will often utilize.

aclsman21
February 4, 2008 3:58 p.m.