The Emergency Room is open 24-hours-a-day and is equipped to serve serious injuries. The Emergency Team is made up of physicians, physician assistants, nurses, technicians, and clerical staff who are specially qualified for emergency health care.
Examples of treatment in an emergency department include:
- Heart attacks and strokes
- Injuries from automobile accidents
- Asthma/respiratory problems
- Accidents that occur at home, at work, or with children at play Illnesses and injuries such as high fevers, severe headaches, fractures, and severe sprains
- Emotional distress and other behavorial health conditions
- Pregnancy related problems
Our goal in the Emergency Room is to stabilize your emergency condition. We follow a registration and screening
process in order to provide quality care to our patients. Before a patient can see a doctor, we must first prioritize our patients to ensure that the most critical cases are seen first. This is called "triage," and can result in a wait for some patients. The triage nurse will see you to determine the priority of your condition.
California State Law requires us to obtain your written consent before we can take care of you. For children, we need the written consent of the parent or guardian. After triage, a doctor or physician assistant will see you and complete a medical screening exam to determine a diagnosis and plan of treatment.
We will then contact your doctor and inform them of your condition. Your medical conditional determines what further treatment is required.
Health Insurance and Your Medical Bills
Most managed health insurance plans require you to go to a specific hospital for your emergency treatment. Your health plan representative may review the medical record of your Emergency Room visit to determine whether your treatment is covered. For true emergencies, there is usually no question about coverage.
Emergency bills typically include the cost of basic emergency care, medications, supplies, lab work and X-rays. Your bill for the emergency services that you receive will be itemized. In addition to the emergency hospital bill, you will also receive a separate bill from physicians involved in your care. The physicians who are sending you bills are not employed by the hospital, and they have to bill separately for their services.
Visitors For Emergency Patients
We need adequate space to provide care for our emergency patients. We know that it's important for family and friends to visit, but please help us keep the number of visitors to a minimum. This way, there is sufficient room for us to perform our duties and protect the privacy of all of our patients.
We make every effort to provide prompt care. We are aware that there are times that you may have to wait longer than is comfortable for you. There are a variety of reasons for the wait: more serious illnesses are seen first, or procedures such as X-rays and blood tests may need to be performed. We really appreciate your patience and cooperation while you wait.
Going Home After Your Care
At the end of your Emergency Room visit, you are given after-care instructions. We encourage you to ask questions about your after-care instructions so that you are sure you thoroughly understand them. Because it is often impossible to recognize and treat all elements of injury or illness in a single visit, you will be asked to also schedule a follow-up appointment with your own physician. This is for your protection in preventing possible complications.
Northridge Hospital also offers a Physician Referral Line that you may call for more information about selecting a physician to meet your health care needs. Our Physician Referral Line is (818) 908-8677. You can also use our online Find A Doctor search on this website.
