With Doral being the fastest growing city in Florida, healthcare is a topic that has been on the minds of the city’s 68,000 residents for a few years now.
Fortunately, Kendall Regional Medical and Trauma Center is opening the first ever freestanding Emergency Room in Doral, making them the leading healthcare provider in the thriving city. The hospital celebrated their $10 million project with a VIP Ribbon Cutting that brought together the City of Doral government, Miami-Dade County Commissioners, State Representatives, City of Doral Police and Fire Rescue, Doral Homeowner Associations and many more.
The freestanding emergency room will offer full service emergency care (including pediatrics) within the 10,500-square-foot facility, caring for patients with minor illness and injury, heart concerns, major medical concerns including burns and overdosing, respiratory issues, neurological concerns (such as head injuries and seizures) and life issues like animal bites, allergic reactions and cuts and wounds.
“The advantage to coming to our facility is that we’re a full-service emergency department,” says Joseph Averbach, MD, medical director of emergency medicine for Kendall Regional Medical Center. “We can offer all services: CAT scan, ultrasound and complete on-site lab services, unlike an urgent care.” Also of note: the center is staffed by board certified emergency medicine physicians and nurses. Says Averbach, “We can handle the sicker patients.”
Growing in popularity around the country, freestanding emergency rooms offer the same benefits and quality of care as hospital emergency rooms, operating 24 hours a day and making use of high-tech diagnostic tools. Freestanding ER’s are legally required to operate 24 hours a day, are always staffed with on-site doctors and provide all members of the community with a medical screening. The Doral center offers patients access to more than 40 medical personnel and was initially conceived as a way to address the lack of emergency services in the area. Patients who are found to be serious enough to admit are transported directly from the ER to Kendall Regional, where they bypass the on-site ER and are able to go directly to a room.
“Doral was strategic in the sense that traffic is always a challenge,” says Kendall Regional’s Director of Community Relations, Peter Jude, who adds the center has been working closely with local police and fire rescue. “It’s a busy area that needed an ER.”
“It’s a true honor and pleasure to be the medical director of Kendall Regional Medical Center’s Doral Emergency Room Department,” says Averbach of the 11-bed center, which has a sister freestanding ER in Town & Country. “On behalf of myself and my team of doctors, we look forward to being a part of and working for the Doral community.”
The Doral Emergency Room will be hosting a free community Open House on Saturday, March 30, which will give the Doral community the opportunity to tour the ER and get any questions they may have answered. There will be face painting, inflatables, arts and crafts, performances and engaging discussions from some of the staff. The Open House will be from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. at 10915 NW 41st Street.