The Emergency Department at
Memorial Health System of East Texas

When an emergency occurs you want treatment and you want it fast. The physicians and nurses at Memorial Health System of East Texas are here for you 24 hours a day/7 days a week.

What to Expect Upon Arrival

• Resuscitation—Conditions that are a threat to life requiring immediate aggressive intervention to restore or preserve life.
• Emergent—Conditions that are a potential threat to life, limb, or function requiring immediate intervention.
• Urgent—Conditions that are a serious illness or injury requiring intervention. Usually this condition is associated with significant distress or discomfort.
• Less Urgent—Conditions presenting as an illness or injury requiring intervention. These conditions are usually associated with mild to moderate distress or discomfort.
• Non-Urgent—Conditions that are a minor illness or injury for which intervention could be delayed or deferred. These conditions are usually associated with minimal or not distress or discomfort.

Technology to Expedite Treatment
Memorial Health System of East Texas leads the area in offering the most advanced technology not only in its hospitals, but in its Emergency Rooms. In addition to small patient/staff ratios, Memorial Health System of East Texas hospital emergency rooms are equipped with the latest imaging and medical information systems available.

• PHI Helicopter (located in Lufkin and available for stat transfers)
• 64 Slice CT Scanner (located in Lufkin’s E.R.)
• Electronic PACs System that allows physicians to view diagnostic test results of a patient from anywhere in the world.

Wait Times
All patients are “Quick Registered” with minimal information being solicited prior to patients being triaged. When rooms are available patients will leave the triage area and go directly into a private emergency room. However, you may have to wait in the lobby prior to seeing a physician. Wait times are dependent upon hospital emergency room volume and the acuity of other patients.

What to Bring
If possible, please bring a list of current medications when coming to the emergency department. You will be asked the following questions about your health:

• A List of Current Medications
• Health Care History
• Allergies
• Surgeries
• Physicians Seen
• Current Chief Health Complaint

Food/Drinks
We ask that you check with a nurse before eating or drinking. This could affect your test results or cause delays in your treatment. If eating is permissible, we have a selection of light foods and beverages available for our patients. Vending machines also are located in the hospital’s main lobby.

For Your Safety

• If not being treated, we request that children under the age of 12 remain in the waiting area at all times. Children must be supervised by an adult and not left alone in the waiting area.
• Due to limited space and the need to protect your confidentiality, only two visitors are allowed in each treatment room.
• In order to protect patient confidentiality, we ask that once you are placed in your room that you remain there with the door closed during treatment.
• Please protect your valuables. Unfortunately, Memorial Health System of East Texas cannot be responsible for the loss of personal belongings, such as money, jewelry, eye glasses, dentures, cell phones, hearing devices, or clothing and accessories. To reach security services, dial “0” on one of the house phones located within the emergency room department.

Payment
Memorial Health System of East Texas accepts cash, checks, credit cards, most insurance, Medicare, Medicaid. Memorial Health System of East Texas will treat all patients regardless of their ability to pay.

'Remote presence robot' doctor roaming halls at Memorial

Though not on two legs, a new doctor will be roaming the halls of Memorial Health System of East Texas this summer saving precious time in the treatment and diagnosis of stroke victims.

Cruising around on four wheels at 5-foot-2-inches, 260 pounds, "RP-7" is a wireless "remote presence robot" allowing a physician to be in two places at once. MHSET's RP-7 is one of only 250 worldwide.

Through a partnership with MHSET, doctors from the Methodist Hosptial in Houston will have the capability of "beaming" into the Lufkin hospital, providing quicker more complete care, according to its creator, InTouch Health. InTouch Health describes the technology as "the ability to project yourself to another location and to move, see, hear and talk as though you were actually there." A remote presence robotic system is comprised of one or more "ControlStations" so RP-7 can move untethered, allowing the physician to freely interact with patients, family members and hospital staff from anywhere, anytime.

"This technology will bring in Methodist neurologists to not replace but augment patient care currently available to stroke victims in Lufkin," said Suzanne Monsour, Methodist Hospital stroke program administrator. "Your doctor is not going away — this is just an added measure of patient care."  Read more about it in the Lufkin Daily News.