Separate entrances for walk-ins and ambulances enhance efficiency and ensure that those with the most urgent needs are identified immediately.

When you are treated at Crozer-Chester Medical Center, you can be assured that you are receiving treatment at a hospital known for providing superior clinical care with compassion and understanding. For over a century, Crozer has provided individuals in medical emergencies with access to advanced care no matter what time of day or night. We keep pace with medical and technological advances, and remain committed to helping those in need.

We have developed this guide to help you understand emergency services and the many ways we provide care to you and your loved ones. Please click on the links below for additional information on our services.

How Patients Arrive at the Emergency Department
The Triage Process
Express Care
Fast Track Treatment
Valuables and Personal Belongings
The Registration Process
Some Questions that Patients Might Ask During Triage or Registration
Advance Directives
Lab and Diagnostic Tests
Admission to the Hospital

How Patients Arrive at the Emergency Department

Many Crozer ER patients come to the department by their own means. Our ER staff also receives patients from the many emergency medical services and ambulances that service Delaware County. The staff also works closely with two other centers of care located at Crozer-Chester Medical Center – the Crozer Regional Trauma Center and the Nathan Speare Regional Burn Treatment Center.

The Triage Process

When patients arrive at the ER, they are assessed by a triage nurse, a highly trained clinician who assesses the condition of each patient to determine the nature and extent of the injury or illness. Medical treatment is provided to those patients most in need of immediate care, based on the severity of their condition. For this reason, we cannot always attend to patients in the order in which they arrive.

Each patient will be taken into an exam room as soon as possible. If an exam room is not immediately available, patients may be asked to take a seat in the waiting room.

We do our very best to keep family members informed about the status of their loved one’s condition. However, time spent providing clinical care and interpreting diagnostic information may prevent information from being immediately available.

Express Care

If the triage nurse determines that a patient has a minor illness or injury that doesn’t require the full services of the ER, he or she will be treated in our Express Care treatment area. This feature of the ER allows patients with minor problems to be treated promptly and reduces waiting time for all of our patients.

Valuables and Personal Belongings

We take every opportunity to make certain that we safeguard patient valuables and personal belongings. Walk-in patients entering the ER are provided with information on the complimentary security lockers available for storing patients’ possessions. These lockers are located near the waiting room in an area that is under camera surveillance. Patients can keep the locker key while they are being treated, or give it to a friend or family member for safekeeping. For safety purposes, the lockers are double-keyed which means that both a Security Officer and the patient must be present to open the locker. We ask patients to provide us with a contact to retrieve their belongings in case they are unable to do so. If the patient is admitted, we release the property to the person named by the patient.

When patients are placed in an exam room, they are given a personal belonging bag for their clothing as well as a large plastic container to store eyeglasses, hearing aids, dentures and other items. This container may be placed in the bag. The patient’s name will be written on the front of the bag and the bag will be sealed. Patients are encouraged to store the bag in a complimentary security locker.

We encourage patients to use these measures for securing their belongings since the hospital cannot be held responsible for lost or stolen items.

The Registration Process

Following the triage process, patients are registered at the bedside. The registrar will ask patients a series of questions and have them sign documents indicating their consent for treatment and billing. Although this process may take a few minutes, it is very important because it provides our emergency care professionals with the most accurate and current patient information. Later, if it is necessary for the patient to be admitted to the hospital, admitting physicians and primary care physicians need this information to continue care. The information provided by the patient also gives the care team access to records about previous medical treatment the patient may have received at Crozer-Chester Medical Center, which may facilitate care.

Documentation of insurance is also obtained at this time so patients should be ready to show patient identification and health insurance cards at registration.

Some questions that patients might be asked during triage or registration include:

What brought the patient to the ER today?

What is the patient’s address?

What is the patient’s social security number?

What is the patient’s date of birth?

When did the patient last eat or drink?

What is the name of the patient’s primary care physician or family doctor?

What medication does the patient take on a daily basis?

What is the name of the medicine and how much is taken per day?

Does the patient have any allergies? What kind?

What is the name of the patient’s insurance carrier?

Does the patient have an “Advance Directive”?

Advance Directives

Federal law requires that all hospitals ask patients if they have an advance directive. An advance directive is a written statement describing the treatments that a patient does or does not wish to receive in the event that he or she is unable to communicate. Patients or families should inform the triage nurse if the patient has an advance directive.