Our full-service Emergency Department at Baystate Franklin Medical Center treats over 24,000 patients annually, supported by fully equipped cardiac and multiple trauma rooms. Our experienced, board certified emergency physicians and specially-trained nurses work in partnership with Baystate Franklin Medical Center X-ray, Respiratory and laboratory Technicians. The computerized Patient Care Information System (PCIS) provides rapid transmission of diagnostic test results directly to other departments.
We have digital X-ray so we instantly have an image on which to base sound medical decisions on how to treat our patients.
We are backed up by our affiliation with Baystate Medical Center, the region's only Level I Trauma Center. Our helipad provides us with the ability to transfer patients to Baystate Medical Center, or other tertiary care facility, and enables us to quickly provide the sophisticated coordinated care vital to traumatic injury victims.
Fast Track
With BFMC Fast Track, available 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week, we separate patients needing a full range of hospital services from those who can easily be treated by a nurse or physician's assistant. This takes the stress out of an Emergency Room visit and significantly reduces wait times for Fast Track patients with less urgent needs. Most of them are discharged in less than two hours.
How ER Fast Track Works
You come to the Baystate Franklin Medical Center’s Emergency Department where a triage nurse determines the urgency and complexity of the care you need.
If your condition requires access to the full services of the hospital - respiratory treatment, blood transfusion, specialist care, etc. – you will be treated in the Emergency Department.
If your condition is less complex and requires no more than one hospital resource (X-ray, lab tests, etc.) the triage nurse may assign you to ER Fast Track where you will receive care sooner from a physician's assistant or registered nurse, both specially-trained in emergency medicine. Most ER FastTrack patients are seen, treated and discharged within two hours.
If you are assigned to the Emergency Department, you will be seen in order of the seriousness of your condition. If you are assigned to the ER FastTrack, you will be seen in order of your arrival.
If you have a primary care provider, ER Fast Track staff will send him/her your medical record and any X-rays, lab test results, etc., from the ER Fast Track visit.
Types of Illnesses and Injuries Typically Referred to ER Fast Track:
- Upper respiratory infections; sore throat, cough
- Uncomplicated urinary tract infections; simple STD exposures
- Conjunctivitis, corneal abrasion, foreign body in the eye
- Earaches, ear drum perforations
- Skin rashes and/or allergic reactions without fever or shortness of breath
- Sprains, strains, contusions
- Simple lacerations
- Simple fractures
- Minor burns
- Isolated chemical exposures to the skin