About 18 months ago, Dr. Mark Griffin, medical director of the emergency room at Andalusia Regional Hospital, made a bold statement.

Griffin, who had just learned that his ER ranked 16th of 19 similarly-sized hospitals within Lifepoint, its parent organization, said ARH would be ranked No. 1 by April of 2015.

Based on numbers released last week, the Andalusia emergency department has already met that goal. The designation is based upon how quickly patients get in and out of the emergency room, core measures based on national standards, and patient satisfaction scores.

“Our physicians, mid-levels and staff worked very, very hard on that goal, and as of Dec. 31, 2014, we earned the top designation,” ARH Emergency Department Director Amy Herrington said. “We had to look at our processes for getting patients back here to see physicians and providers quickly. Our goal is for them not to sit out in the waiting room.”

More specifically, the goal is to get patients in and out of the ER in 114 minutes. At present, they are exceeding the goal with an average of 109 minutes per patient.

To do that, the staff has changed protocols. For instance, if someone presents with an ankle injury, he or she is taken straight to radiology. That way, when they see a physician in the ER, that doctor already has the test results needed for treatment.

Similarly, for patients who present with an earache or sore throat in need of medication, a provider will meet them in the lobby and get the prescription needed.

“We’re trying to make sure Emergency Department staff educates families better. For instance, if we only have a hallway bed, we are putting them there to get them in and out faster,” Herrington said. “We’re trying to do a better job at explaining that. I think it’s working, because satisfaction scores are showing that it is.”

Dr. Griffin attributed much of the improvement to seminars and training in team building and patient care.

“We want them to consider what it’s like in that hospital bed or in that wheelchair,” Griffin said. “In the middle of the madness every day, we need to realize these are real people with real problems, real needs. They are putting themselves in our hands and saying ‘Help me.’ And that’s what we do.”

In 2014, the emergency department saw 19,500 patients, an increase of 4,000 over the previous year.

“It’s hard to believe you can do that volume in ‘just a small town hospital,’ ” Griffin said. “But we’re not ‘just a small town hospital.’ We are great at what we do. We can’t do everything after the fact, but for primary care, emergency care, we are good at what we do.”

Griffin said Herrington has strict standards for the department’s employees.

“They have to be not just certified, but instructor certified in ACLS and PALS,” he said. “She is also getting all of them certified emergency nurse credentialing.”

They also are getting certified as a chest pain center.

“We already to this, but this makes us a preferred provider for this issue,” Herrington said.

Griffin said now that the ER has achieved this ranking, the real work begins.

“We’ve got a target in center of our backs,” he said. “Nobody in this company ever made a move like this from 16 to 1, and we’re going to stay there.”

In addition to the employees shown, other emergency department employees include Margaret Dyer, James Stroud, Heidi Martin, Sonya Syler, Jamie Kilcrease, Nicolle Williamson, Wayne Godwin, Mary Jackson, Ken Cato, Michele Blackburn, Robin Webb, Erin Haynes, Jackie Medina, Dana Benton, Emily McDonald, Michael Hutto and Amenda Pope.