PHOTO: Kimball Medical Center, a Barnabas Health facility, recently unveiled a Geriatric Emergency Medicine (GEM) Unit to meet the unique and diverse healthcare needs of the region’s growing aging population.  The GEM Unit at Kimball Medical Center is modeled after Monmouth Medical Center’s GEM Unit that opened in 2011 – marking the first new initiative Kimball has rolled out since announcing its intention last month to merge with Monmouth.

Adults age 65 and older account for approximately 20 percent of Emergency Department admissions. Kimball’s GEM Unit is part of the hospital’s ongoing efforts to meet the complexities of providing care to this vulnerable geriatric patient population. Patients visiting the GEM Unit at Kimball Medical Center have access to an interdisciplinary team of specially trained geriatric medicine caregivers who work with referring physicians, a dedicated pharmacist and consults with a board-certified geriatrician.

The GEM Unit at Kimball Medical Center features eight treatment rooms designed to provide older adults with an atmosphere that meets their needs, including lowered beds equipped with safety alarms to prevent patient falls, controlled lighting, larger TV screens, reduced noise levels, anti-slip flooring and an age-specific call-bell system.

“By meeting the more complex needs of older adults, we aim to improve quality of care, enhance care coordination and address the multidimensional necessities in order for the patient to experience a more holistic patient-centered care atmosphere,” said Victor M. Almeida, DO, chairman of emergency medicine and Kimball Medical Center and Monmouth Medical Center.

For more information on the Geriatric Emergency Medicine Unit and other initiatives offered by Kimball Medical Center and Monmouth Medical Center to meet the needs of aging patients, please call 732-886-4590. [TLS. Photo credit Lakewood Shopper]