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ST. JOSEPH – The American College of Emergency Physicians, with support from The Gary and Mary West Health Institute and John A. Hartford Foundation, recently granted the emergency department at Spectrum Health Lakeland Medical Center in St. Joseph with the bronze standard — Level 3 Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation recognizing the care provided for older adults. The GEDA was developed by leaders in emergency medicine to ensure older patients receive well-coordinated, quality care at the appropriate level at every emergency department encounter.

The voluntary GEDA program, which includes three levels like trauma center designations, provides more than two dozen best practices for geriatric care including specific criteria and goals for emergency clinicians and administrators to target. A Level 3 emergency department must incorporate many of these best practices, along with providing interdisciplinary geriatric education, and having geriatric appropriate equipment and supplies available.

“We know older adults visit emergency departments at comparatively higher rates than non-seniors and often present with their own unique health challenges,” said Rob Nolan, director of emergency medicine, Spectrum Health Lakeland. “We are proud to be leading the way in providing the highest standards of care for older adults in our community. Our emergency department teams have worked extremely hard to meet and exceed the geriatric guidelines put in place by the ACEP including measures ranging from adding geriatric-friendly equipment, to specialized staff, to more routine screening for delirium, dementia, and fall risk, among other vulnerabilities.”

Spectrum Health Lakeland emergency departments in Niles, St. Joseph, and Watervliet are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to care for life-threatening illnesses, injuries and sexual assault. For other minor conditions and illnesses, health officials encourage patients to contact their primary care provider first or visit a local walk-in clinic.

To learn more about the GEDA, visit acep.org/geda.