Kentuckiana Medical Center Opens New Emergency Room (ER), Promising a 15-Minute Or Less Wait Time

CLARKSVILLE, Ind., Dec. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Kentuckiana Medical Center (KMC), now managed by the national healthcare development firm Galichia Hospital Group (GHG), has opened its new Emergency Department and offers ER patients a wait time of 15 minutes or less. The announcement is made by GHG's Chairman & CEO Joseph P. Galichia, M.D., F.A.C.C., who says: "Our group has had extensive hands-on experience running an Emergency Department at a hospital much like KMC, and proven our ability to successfully reduce patient wait times for those needing emergency care. We're thrilled to now be working in Clarksville, helping improve the delivery of emergency and acute medical services to the community."

Dr. Galichia says the idea for shrinking ER wait times came from discussions on ways to address common emergency room problems people face everyday across America. "The real tragedy," says Dr. Galichia, "is that often patients don't come to the ER because they think whatever's bothering them isn't worth the trouble or the expense of a check up by a physician, or they fear they will be humiliated for making a fuss over nothing. Therefore people experiencing chest pains think they can ride it and they sometimes end up with a heart attack. We've learned that early intervention saves lives in emergent situations."

"We're trying to provide and expand care for people who otherwise might not seek it, by addressing the long wait times found at most Emergency Departments," Dr. Galichia said.

As announced earlier in the month, the Galichia organization has relocated Michael Phillips from its Wichita, Kansas, headquarters to Clarksville to serve as KMC's CEO and lead the medical center's expansion efforts going forward. Previously, Mr. Phillips served as the CEO for Galichia Medical Group, a large and growing multi-specialty physician group that provides comprehensive medical services to all of Wichita's hospitals, and throughout the State of Kansas. Mr. Phillips served as a key member of the team that recently negotiated the sale of Galichia Heart Hospital to HCA, which closed February 2012.

Further, at the request of local physicians, KMC is also installing a large scope of new equipment at the facility. In addition, KMC will increase in-patient rooms from 34 to 46, of which 12 will include telemetry monitoring.

The main core of physicians at KMC includes Drs. Chris Stavens, Anis Chalhoub, John Rumisek and Rob Dowling, cardiac surgeons; Drs. Eli Hallal, Joseph Beaven, Jeff Campbell, primary care physicians; and Dr. Renato La Rocca, an oncologist.

Dr. Galichia explains: "We asked our physicians what tools they needed at Kentuckiana to provide the best possible care to patients, and we've purchased exactly what they requested. We had the physicians speak directly to vendors, so the physicians could offer input at every step of the process."  

GHG's philosophy is to give physicians the tools they need to provide the highest quality care for their patients. "Our thinking is, who knows better than physicians how to care for patients, so we give them what they need," Dr. Galichia says, "In fact, for those area physicians reading this announcement who are looking for a 'Physician Centric' environment to care for patients, we encourage them to contact the KMC management team for details regarding privileges at 812-284-6100."

About Kentuckiana Medical Center

KMC employs close to 200 people and is located just off U.S. 31 in Clarksville, IN, which is part of the greater Louisville Metropolitan area. KMC has been serving the community of Southern Indiana and Kentucky since 2009 and has since received certification from the Healthcare Facilities Accreditation program (HFAP). For more information about Kentuckiana Medical Center, visit http://www.kentuckianamedcen.com.

About Galichia Hospital Group

Guided by Dr. Joseph Galichia, GHG's mission is to provide integrated healthcare systems that provide the highest quality care possible.  The Group's model is to provide efficient, cost-effective health care services that meet the needs of the community while embracing the concept that patient care comes first. This vision is based on Dr. Galichia's experience providing medical care in many international locales and various healthcare systems. For more information, visit: http://www.galichiahospitalgroup.com.

SOURCE Galichia Hospital Group