Robert Glatter, MD: Hi. I’m Dr Robert Glatter, a member of the Medscape Emergency Medicine Editorial Board and attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital, part of Northwell Health. Today we will be discussing the growing trend of geriatric emergency departments (EDs) throughout the United States, and the reasons behind it.
Geriatric Emergency Department Statistics
Dr Glatter: According to recent estimates, up to 25% of patients seen in the ED are aged 65 years or older.[1] By 2030, this percentage may well increase, when at least 1 in 5 Americans will be aged 65 or older.[2] In 2012, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai received an award from the US Department of Health and Human Services to implement a new model of geriatric emergency care in three large urban hospitals; Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City; St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson, New Jersey; and Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.
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