Franciscan Health Crown Point recently earned Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation from the American College of Emergency Physicians.

The program recognizes emergency departments for their quality of care provided to older adults. The voluntary program provides target criteria and goals for emergency clinicians and administrators.

Accredited geriatric emergency departments are suited to cater to the needs, dispositions and presentations of older adult patients. The accredited departments integrate best practices for older adults into an existing emergency department.

Franciscan Health has been working toward the accreditation for years, after a multidisciplinary team met to discuss the care of the hospital’s growing geriatric patient population in the emergency department.

“It is a partnership that involves input from nursing, physicians, pharmacists, physical therapy, trauma services, social work and case management to provide a myriad of resources tailored to each individual patient,” said Dr. Ryan Misek, Franciscan Health Crown Point vice president of medical affairs, in a press release. “We want our community to know that the emergency department at Franciscan Health Crown Point is focused on the highest standards of care for our community’s older citizens.”