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Acute Care

Acute Care for Critical Medical Emergencies

Holy Cross Health Emergency Services are available to anyone, any time of the day, every day of the year. Our emergency medical specialists provide expert diagnosis and treatment for a wide range of serious and critical medical crises—from acute myocardial infarction –heart attack—and stroke, to broken bones and head injury.

Experience and Expertise: 

The team at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring alone treats nearly 90,000 acute care emergency patients every year. It is the largest hospital emergency care provider in Montgomery and Prince George's counties, and the fourth largest emergency acute care provider in Maryland. We estimate that an additional 22,000 patients with medical emergencies will be cared for each year at the new Holy Cross Germantown Hospital, which opened on October 1, 2014.

Team Approach to Emergency Services: 

Our multidisciplinary team of emergency room acute care professionals work hand-in-hand to deliver top-quality emergency health services. These expert teams include board-certified emergency medicine physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, registered nurses and patient care technicians with special training and years of experience in the treatment of complicated and life-threatening medical conditions.

Efficient Delivery of Acute Care: 

The emergency teams at Holy Cross Hospital, and at Holy Cross Germantown Hospital, use a triage system to quickly evaluate patients, determine the severity of their problem, and ensure that the most critically ill or injured are first to receive care. 

The teams practice patient-centered care and utilize sophisticated diagnostic technology and some of the most advanced emergency and acute medical care treatment interventions available anywhere. 

Medical laboratories, and diagnostic imaging tools, such as CT scanners and X-ray, are close at hand to speed the patient evaluation process. Adult patients who require extended monitoring, but don’t need to be admitted to an inpatient hospital unit, are cared for in nearby observation units.

Rapid Treatment for Stroke and Heart Attack Reduces Death and Disability: 

Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring is designated as a Primary Stroke Center by The Joint Commission and the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS). That means it has met a strict set of criteria to provide 24-hour-a-day, lifesaving acute care for stroke that is delivered by a coordinated, interdisciplinary team of stroke experts. It has also earned Cardiac Interventional Center designation by MIEMSS, which means Holy Cross Hospital has met rigorous standards to permit treatment of patients experiencing the most severe type of heart attack, called a STEMI.

Access to Comprehensive Medical/Surgical Services: 

No matter where they receive their emergency acute care, patients have rapid access to all of Holy Cross Hospital acute care resources, and to the medical and surgical services of Holy Cross Germantown Hospital.

Specialized Emergency Services: 

In addition to the delivery of emergency acute care, Holy Cross Health features several specialized emergency care areas that help ensure that each patient receives care targeted to their specific medical needs: