Contributed by EAMC
The East Alabama Medical Center Freestanding Emergency Department — part of the Auburn Medical Pavilion in the Auburn Research Park — began operation on Wednesday, June 23 at 7 a.m. The 12-bed, Level III trauma center offers patients another option for emergency services in the region, joining the emergency departments at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika and EAMC-Lanier in Valley. This is just the sixth freestanding emergency department in Alabama, with three in the Birmingham area and two in the Mobile/Baldwin County area.
The new freestanding emergency department (FED) is located at 900 Camp Auburn Road, near the intersection of Shug Jordan Parkway and South College Street in Auburn. The FED is located on the first floor of the building and is joined on that floor by diagnostic radiology services, a laboratory and a pharmacy for use with emergency patients. Outpatient radiology and laboratory services will also be available Monday through Friday, as will a retail pharmacy called East Alabama Apothecary.
A freestanding emergency department is a licensed facility that provides emergency care in a facility that is structurally separate from the hospital. Although the East Alabama Medical Center Freestanding Emergency Department is not physically connected to East Alabama Medical Center, ambulance transport will be available should a patient arrive there and need to be admitted to the hospital. Patients at the Freestanding Emergency Department will be seen by the same emergency medicine physicians who practice in the Emergency Departments at East Alabama Medical Center and EAMC-Lanier.
“It is so exciting to extend our emergency services into the Auburn area to better serve our communities,” said Amy Brandon, East Alabama Health Emergency Department executive director. “This campus will also provide level-three trauma care with the same skilled physicians, nurses and support staff as our other two emergency department campuses in Opelika and Valley. We are thankful for this beautiful facility in Auburn that provides 12 additional exam rooms to our service.”
The FED has an ambulance bay as well as a helicopter landing pad. In addition, sexual assault victims may seek special care here through the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) program. A SANE nurse provides care for patients needing this service and is able to conduct a forensics kit that can be used in a criminal investigation.