At a Glance

Each year, SSM St. Joseph Hospital West cares for more than 45,000 emergency patients from St. Charles, Warren, Lincoln and Pike County...and beyond.  Our state-designated Level III Trauma Center, certified Chest Pain Center and Primary Stroke Center is well equipped to handle life-threatening illnesses and injuries.  For our youngest patients, SSM Cardinal Glennon Pediatric Express offers children under 15 a special unit just for them, where they receive fast, friendly care from a team of pediatric specialists.  It is very important to us to see all patients who arrive at our emergency department in an expeditious manner, and to provide efficient and appropriate care while here.

We pledge that we will make every attempt to make your visit to the St. Joseph Hospital West emergency department as comfortable as possible. Please let us know if we are not meeting your expectations.

What to expect when you arrive in the emergency room?

Registration
When you arrive at the Emergency Department, the registration and triage process begins.  You will be asked to provide basic demographic information:  name, address, phone number, social security number and reason for coming to the emergency department.  It is important for all this information to be accurate in case the staff needs to contact you after discharge regarding x-ray or test results. 

In triage, a registered nurse evaluates each patient's reason for coming to the emergency department to assist in determining which patient requires immediate attention.  Every nurse is trained to assess the patient by gathering basic medical history and a brief explanation of the illness or injury that has brought the patient to the emergency department.  After the patient has been triaged, the nurse will decide who needs to receive treatment first, life and limb threatening illnesses and injuries always take precedence.

A member of our registration department will finalize the registration process after the physician or nurse practitioner sees you. 

Triage
After triage, the nurse will take you to an assigned room or escort you back to the waiting room.  If your condition changes while in the emergency department waiting area, please let the triage nurse know immediately.  Although, the emergency department may not appear to be busy in the waiting room, ambulances arrive in a separate entrance. 

Please Pay Careful Attention
It is important to refrain from eating or drinking until the physician has given clearance.  Oral intake of food or fluids may impede test results.  While you are waiting, if you need to urinate please let the staff know so that they can give you a urine collection kit.  This can greatly decrease the amount of time waiting once the physician sees you.

Arrival To A Room Inside the Emergency Room
Once you arrive in a room, a nurse and physician will evaluate and care for your illness or injury.  While in the treatment area, you may have an Intravenous (IV) started, laboratory tests drawn, x-rays or EKG's completed.  All of these tests take time to complete to provide as much information as possible.  When the emergency department is busy, the staff will make every effort to inform you of any delays and will attempt to minimize your waiting time if possible.  Please feel free to ask the staff about any delays or concerns that you have while in our emergency department. 

Family Members
We know the importance of family members and their presence while you are in the emergency room.  We do ask that only two visitors come back with the patient in the emergency treatment area.  Please have all visitors remain in the patient's room so that doorways and hallways are not obstructed.  This also helps to protect the privacy of the family member they are visiting and other patients in the emergency department. 

Your Privacy
Please note that we will not give out any medical information to family members or friends who call the department, the phone call will be transferred to your room.  It will be up to you or a designated family member to discuss your condition.  You can get a plan of care or additional information from the nursing staff.