St. Vincent’s is a 30-bed Community Hospital with 24/7 Emergency Department that has an annual ER volume of about 20,000 (53 patients per day). According to Dr. Sean Vanlandingham they average 2.1 patients/hour (roughly 25 patients per 12-hour shift). The ED has 11-beds and has 1 ED provider at all times with 1 NP that works the swing shift (1PM-9PM) on weekdays and essentially operates independently, also seeing more than 2 patients an hour. Recently they hired a new grad NP that will be learning on the job and working during the day.
This position is a bread-and-butter rural Emergency Medicine opportunity and the physician that accepts must be prepared and competent to see anything that may potentially walk through the door. According to Dr. Vanlandingham, “We need someone that can work solo and be self-sufficient. There will be periods of rest when there will be no patients at all and periods of 4-6 patients in an hour. We must adjust and make it happen.”
The support staff is minimal. Anesthesiologist backup is available 6 hours per day. There is one General Surgeon who is accessible by phone 4 days per week. The cardiologist conducts stress tests and inpatient consults 5 days per week. The hospitalist admits and manages patients on the inpatient side. Only about 5% of patients need to be admitted, and another 5% need to be transferred out, the rest are able to be treated at St. Vincent’s.
On site imaging includes CT, X-ray, ultrasound (Available most of the day; Midnight-7AM on call), MRI (8AM-5PM). Labs onsite can handle most requests; anything the lab can’t handle is sent to UAB (2-hour turnaround). TeamHealth has a great relationship with the larger hospitals in Birmingham and providers consult with specialists at UAB and St. Vincent’s East as necessary.