The growing population of Butler County has triggered growth in healthcare. For that reason Stabler Hospital has added some recent changes to their emergency room to help meet the growing demands.

The hospital has added the Fast Track/Urgent Care program. This area allows for the treatment of minor emergency everyday to expedite patient care.

Chief Nursing Officer Joseph Hobbs said the changes allowed the hospital to see more people than before.

"We can get patients in and out more timely," said Hobbs.

"We can keep the less acute patients separated from the more acute patients.

A lot of times we have a lot going on and they come in and they get fearful."

Hobbs said the new addition had been something the hospital had needed for some time.

"We have been needing it for a while," said Hobbs. "The thing we are trying to do is be able to offer our patients that come here privacy."

Hobbs said the hospital had worked hard to offer patients a room to themselves. He felt it was very important to give patients the privacy they needed and deserved to get over their illnesses.

"We have all private rooms here," said Hobbs. "We have one trauma room which is a double trauma room but everything else is private."

Another advantage of Fast Track is the ability for working parents to get their sick children examined. Many times parents do not have the time to get their children to the family physician before they close. Hobbs said this gives them an opportunity to get them the treatment they need no matter what their parent's schedule may be.

"In the afternoon parents are always pushed to get their kids to the doctors office," said Hobbs.

"They are often closed and they can't get there. They can come here and be seen and be in and out in 45 minutes. That is one of the things we hope to accomplish with this. We're trying to think about the parents needs and being able to accommodate them."

Hobbs said the rooms in the new area are well equipped to meet the needs of the patients. He said there were also features to help the nurse's station keep a close watch on patients.

"Most of the rooms are equipped the same way," said Hobbs.

"They all have television monitors like a regular room. All of the monitors go to the central desk station.They're all set up so if you have a patient in with a heart condition or chest pains they are all set up to alarms so the patient can get the proper attention from the nurses station."

The department also boasts a highly trained staff, which includes experienced emergency nurses, a number of whom are certified in ACLS, TNCC, ENPC, emergency department technicians and case managers.

For the best diagnosis and treatment, other professionals may be called upon from areas such as radiology, respiratory therapy and laboratory services.

Hobbs said all the new services were geared toward one goal. They wanted to provide the service needed for a growing community.

"We needed to meet the growing needs of our population here in the county," said Hobbs. "That is what we hope to provide."