IS THE NO-WAIT ER PLEDGE IN EFFECT AT ALL TIMES? Yes. WHAT DOES NO WAIT EMERGENCY CARE MEAN? Our pledge is that a triage nurse or doctor will see you upon arrival. HOW DOES THIS WORK? WILL MY VISIT BE SHORTER? Our pledge is that we will do everything possible to have a nurse or physician begin your evaluation and treatment immediately. Depending on the nature of the illness or injury, the duration of each visit will vary. HOW IS THE TIMEFRAME OF PATIENTS' VISITS DOCUMENTED FOR THIS PLEDGE? When you check in with our admitting person, your time of arrival will be noted. When the triage nurse or doctor sees you, the time will be documented by our ER staff. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A PATIENT IS NOT SEEN RIGHT AWAY? If you are not seen by one of our health care professionals right away, we will do our best to correct the situation. We value and respect your time. IS A NO-WAIT ER PLEDGE REALLY NECESSARY FOR AN EMERGENCY ROOM? In many emergency rooms across the country, wait times have been increasing. In fact, in California, the average wait time is 4 hours, according to the California Hospital Association. We want to assure our patients that we are dedicated to not only offering the best quality care but also providing that care as efficiently as possible. DOES THE NO-WAIT ER PLEDGE AFFECT HOW PATIENTS ARE PRIORITIZED? While the goal is to see every patient right away, the most severe medical cases will always receive our first attention. HOW CAN THE ER MAINTAIN THE HIGHEST QUALITY OF CARE IF SPEED IS THE PRIORITY? Emergency care requires fast care due to the nature of emergencies. We never compromise quality over delivery. In fact, St. Helena Hospital has a 98% patient satisfaction ranking for emergency care. Our process is focused on getting patients to a physician for diagnosis and treatment without waiting. DOES THIS COST MORE? No. DOES IT APPLY TO ALL AGES - INFANTS TO SENIOR CITIZENS - EQUALLY? Yes. If you have other questions about our No-Wait ER Pledge, please ask any of our Emergency Department staff.