The Emergency Department at Mercy Medical Center provides 24 hour-a-day, Level III trauma, emergency and episodic health care to diverse patient types. Mercy is affiliated with the University of Maryland Medical System and, as a result, offers several residency training programs and health care delivery in all specialties with the exception of Level I trauma.

The Emergency Department has approximately 55,000 visits per year. We have 43 treatment areas of which 36 are monitored rooms. There is a five chair “staging area” for use in facilitating early initiation of care or discharge. Six of the beds are utilized as an Urgent Care area which is operational from 11 am - 11 pm. Another six beds are utilized for Pediatric Urgent Care which is operational from 10 am - 3 am with dedicated staffing including a physician and a registered nurse who is PALS and/or ENPC certified. There is also Mercy’s Forensic Nurse Examiners Program (FNE), formerly the Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (S.A.F.E.) Program, 24-hour on-call nursing, as well as a dedicated treatment area.

The Emergency Department provides nursing care utilizing a modified primary nursing methodology: during periods of peak demand, the department has a charge nurse, a triage nurse, three nursing teams (nurse/technician) and a float nurse; during periods of less demand, the department functions with a charge nurse, a triage nurse and two nursing teams. The department has a professional advancement model that includes nurse interns, clinical nurses I, II and III and a nurse director. The team is focused on collaborative relationships, patient safety, and outcomes driven care.