Emergency Department

Scott & White Hospital - Brenham's Emergency Department is a Level III trauma center. It is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The department treats approximately 14,000 adults and children every year, for minor ailments to life-threatening emergencies. The nine-bed department is staffed with highly-trained physicians and nurses around the clock. The care delivered in the Emergency Department is augmented by other hospital services that include:

• X-Ray
• Ultrasound
• CT
• Laboratory
• Pharmacy
• Social Services
• Respiratory Therapy
• Pastoral Care

These services all come together to treat emergency patients.

What to expect when you arrive at the hospital to be seen in the Emergency Department:

• You should use the Emergency Department entrance.
• You will be greeted by a person at the front desk who will direct you to the Triage Area or the Emergency Department waiting area. A Triage Nurse will respond to you to complete a triage.

What is triage?

The term "triage" simply means to prioritize. In the Emergency Department we triage (or prioritize) all patients in order of severity of illness. Emergency Department nurses are experienced in quickly identifying and prioritizing patients as they arrive at the hospital. While every attempt is made to see patients in the order they arrive, the order is not determined by who arrived first. Critically ill and/or injured patients may cause delays.

Once in the patient care area, you will be seen by a physician and nurse. Please feel free to ask any staff member any question during your stay. We endeavor to give the highest quality care to you in the shortest amount of time. Your length of stay in the department will be affected by a number of factors, but the largest factors include:

• Number of diagnostic tests ordered by the physician
• Number of patients being treated in the Department at any given time
• Number of patients arriving by ambulance

The Emergency Department at Scott & White Hospital - Brenham has been designated by the State of Texas as a Level III trauma center.

We have a helipad to transfer patients by helicopter. Certain types of patients may be transferred by ground or air ambulance including:

• Patient requiring cardiac catheterization and other interventional cardiac therapies
• Severely burned patients
• Complicated pediatric cases
• Complicated trauma cases

The Emergency Department strives to focus on the needs of the whole person in a compassionate and a caring manner while encouraging people to become partners in their own healthcare.