CMO: Small-Format Hospitals Increase Access to Care in Underserved Communities

WellSpan Health is set to open three small-format hospitals by the end of 2025.

WellSpan Health is opening small-format hospitals to increase access to emergency care and inpatient care in three communities.

The small-format hospitals, which are being sited in New Freedom, Carlisle, and Newberry Township, Penn., feature emergency rooms with 10 beds and 10 inpatient rooms. The hospitals, which do not have operating rooms, will offer X-ray, CT scanners, and ultrasound as well as diagnostic laboratory studies. The hospitals will be open 24/7 year-round.

The three hospitals are expected to open by the end of 2025.

"We are locating the hospitals in convenient areas for our patients, particularly in areas that are underserved in relation to inpatient care," says David Vega, MD, MBA, senior vice president and CMO at WellSpan.

One of the big benefits of the small-format hospital model is that they tend to have short wait times compared to traditional hospitals and emergency departments, Vega says. "Typically, the wait time in the emergency department is 10 minutes to care, and for patients who are discharged from the emergency department, it takes about 90 minutes from the time patients check in to the time when patients go home."

The small-format hospitals are based on a streamlined model of care that allows caregivers to see patients faster and to expedite services without any reduction in the patient experience, Vega says. "In fact, it is a better patient experience than what most hospitals in the country can achieve."

The streamlined model of care includes use of standardized protocols and standardized ways of seeing patients that will help the small-format hospitals to gain efficiency, Vega says, adding the scope of care is more narrowly focused than at WellSpan's traditional hospitals.

"The scope of what is going to happen in the emergency departments at the small-format hospitals is not the same as we experience at York Hospital, which is a Level 1 trauma center," Vega says. "At York Hospital, there can be several trauma patients and stroke patients in the emergency department. At the small-format hospitals, the scope of care and the volume of patients is going to be lower than what you see at traditional hospitals, which will make us more efficient in the care that we provide."

The small-format hospitals will also be designed to provide efficient access to specialists through virtual connections, Vega says.

"This is a different model than traditional hospitals," Vega says. "Instead of having to wait for a specialist to become available and come physically to a location, a lot of our specialists will be available immediately at the bedside through a virtual connection. For example, if you need a cardiologist, they will work with the nursing team at the small-format hospital to be able to examine the patient remotely such as hearing the heartbeat."

From a CMO perspective, the small-format hospitals will allow WellSpan to have a more focused and efficient approach to care within the scope of services that will be offered, Vega says.

"The services that are offered are a little different than traditional hospitals," Vega says. "For example, there are no operating rooms or surgical procedures performed at small-format hospitals. However, the emergency department is fully licensed by the state and available 24/7. The inpatient side of the hospitals is also available to our patients."

As WellSpan's CMO, it also is important to have the small-format hospitals integrated into the health system's electronic medical record, Vega says. "If a patient needs a higher level of care than what the small-format hospital can offer, we will make it smooth and easy for patients to be transferred to a higher level of care at one of our traditional hospitals."