New micro-hospital in Topeka offers alternative to traditional hospital setting
A lead physician at the recently opened Topeka ER & Hospital says the facility offers an alternative to traditional hospital settings where some people may not feel comfortable.
Topeka ER & Hospital, which officially opened July 27, is the first independently owned “micro-hospital” in Kansas, according to Jared Schreiner, chief medical officer and emergency medicine physician.
“The whole design of the micro-hospital started maybe a decade ago,” he said, “and the purpose was to build hospitals in communities, because we found that patients were avoiding care because they didn’t want to drive to the city, to fight parking, to fight traffic, to get on an elevator, to follow signs, to get lost, to wait in a waiting room.”
Being independently owned, Schreiner said, means Topeka ER & Hospital isn’t associated with one of the state’s hospital systems, though it does work with Topeka-area hospitals to coordinate some patient care.
He added that Topeka ER & Hospital, at 6135 S.W. 17th St., isn’t better than what the capital city already has to offer. It’s simply a different concept, one that provides many of the same services as a traditional hospital but in a more intimate setting.
“I can’t say that I can care for a patient here any better than at another place, because I still work at other places and I’m proud of that work, too,” Schreiner said. “I think what it translates into is that the patient feels better cared for.
“We all are well trained in this field. We can all treat disease. But sometimes when you’re a patient and you feel like you’ve been moved through rapidly, you may not feel as comfortable with what just happened. Emergencies are scary, not to mention inconvenient, and I think this kind of place lets us minimize that.”
Topeka ER & Hospital offers emergency room care 24/7. The facility has eight emergency-room beds, six in-patient beds in private rooms, an ambulance bay and a trauma room. It also has the capability to conduct MRIs, X-rays, CT scans and ultrasounds, and there is a pharmacy and lab in house.
According to Dianna Cox, chief nursing officer, the micro-hospital currently has around 40 staff members, including 11 emergency physicians.
Cox said Topeka ER & Hospital is physician owned. It accepts all commercial insurance programs but isn’t a participant in public programs, such as Medicaid.
“But we don’t turn anyone away at the door,” Cox said. “Anyone who presents with an emergency gets to see a doctor, and then, we’ll take your care from there.”
During its first week in business, Cox said, Topeka ER & Hospital saw close to 30 patients. About half of those patients went in for COVID-19 testing.
Schreiner said the facility can return COVID-19 test results in about 30 minutes, but because of limited supplies, individuals must receive a doctor’s referral to have a coronavirus test done at the Topeka ER & Hospital.
Cox said they’re set up to treat individuals infected with COVID-19, as well, if that task arises.
Cox previously worked as an emergency-room nurse at The University of Kansas Health System St. Francis Campus, where she had been for 15 years.
“I’m very excited to be working here,” Cox said. “This is totally different, just a different setting.”
She said most of Topeka ER & Hospital’s physicians are from Kansas or the Topeka area.
Schreiner is from Topeka originally. He completed his degree at the University of Kansas School of Medicine and did his residency in Dallas, where he remained for about 10 years with his wife and kids.
Schreiner said he has done some part-time work in micro-hospitals like this before, while working at bigger hospitals and trauma centers.
“What I’ve learned being here is this gives me the time to be with my patients that I didn’t have before,” Schreiner said. “I get to actually sit down and spend some time. I don’t feel rushed. I don’t feel like the system is pushing me to get through patients. I really like getting to spend time with them, making sure my patients know what’s going on.”
