Johns Hopkins Bayview has been named a Level 3 Geriatric Emergency Department by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) — the first hospital in Baltimore to receive this accreditation. This recognition is part of an effort to improve and standardize emergency care for the nation’s older patients, many of whom are admitted to the hospital through an emergency department visit.

According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, older adults can be medically complex and may face social and physical challenges when they visit an emergency department. Patients who visit an ACEP-accredited facility can be assured that the clinical teams have the expertise, equipment and experienced staff dedicated to providing the care most appropriate to seniors.

Phillip Magidson, M.D., director of geriatric emergency medicine, praises his interdisciplinary workgroup for their focus on geriatric trauma patients and work surrounding delirium prevention and management, which have placed the Medical Center in the accomplished company of emergency departments around the nation who are focused on geriatric care. “This achievement acknowledges the high standards of clinical practice that our emergency medicine team has implemented with an eye toward providing high value care for older patients.”

Geriatric nurse champion Rachel Kelley, BSN, RN, CEN, TCRN (pictured here), has been engaged in the workgroup since day one, and coordinates resources between trauma care and geriatric medicine. When she and Dr. Magidson began to look at the data in 2020, they realized that geriatric patients make up about half of all trauma activations in the emergency department — and most of those are caused by falls, making these patients especially vulnerable to future injury. “One of the outcomes of this accreditation process is that we’ve created timely and appropriate education for all our staff in the ED and are always looking for ways to make things safer for these patients. Their care has become my primary focus!”

Excellence in geriatric care is foundational to our work at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. A key institutional priority is to grow our identity as an age-friendly health system that provides exemplary care to older adults.