Onslow Memorial Hospital says ED changes cut waits sharply, warns of rising workplace violence

Dr. Penny Berlingame Deal, chief executive officer of Onslow Memorial Hospital, told a business and civic audience that the hospital’s emergency department redesign has produced measurable improvements even as staff safety concerns grow.

Lede: Dr. Berlingame Deal said the hospital changed its ‘‘front door’’ processes to add treatment spaces and speed triage, resulting in a drop in patients who left without being seen from roughly 5% a year earlier to 1.31% in the most recent month, an 83% reduction in boarded hours, an ~80% improvement in door‑to‑provider time and a rise in patient experience scores from 49.7 to 68.8.

Nut‑graf: Hospital leaders framed the redesign as a year‑long, sustained improvement driven by leadership changes, expanded capacity and process redesign. CEO Berlingame Deal credited ED leadership and medical directors and said the hospital will maintain the changes.

Workplace safety: Berlingame Deal also raised a separate concern: workplace violence against caregivers. She said the hospital recorded 204 incidents last year (ranging from verbal threats to physical harm) and that the rate this year is higher so far. To address that, the hospital has implemented enhanced de‑escalation training, clear reporting pathways, and stronger security protocols and maintains a zero tolerance policy for threats that may result in law enforcement involvement.

Why it matters: emergency‑department access and staff safety affect both civilian and military residents; improved throughput reduces crowding and can preserve ambulance capacity for higher‑acuity calls, while rising staff‑safety incidents pose risks to retention and care continuity.

Next steps: the hospital plans a new 36,000‑square‑foot Burton Park medical office building to consolidate outpatient services (grand opening anticipated this fall) and is planning a transition from its current electronic medical record to Epic through a UNC Health affiliation to improve information sharing and coordination.