COLUMBIAMEMORIAL.ORG WINTER 2024 3 An Emergency Department for community care Meet the ED medical director, and hear how we’re improving the ED with the BuildCMH Expansion Project After working as an ocean lifeguard in Los Angeles County, Paul Silka, MD, MHA, FACEP, went to medical school to become an emergency physician. Dr. Silka is now the medical director of the CMH Emergency Department (ED). He enjoys the variety, diversity and critical nature of the decisions and procedures that are necessary in emergency medicine. He joined CMH in July 2023. “CMH is such a unique setting as an independent Critical Access Hospital collaborating with OHSU, which allows for continued high-level professional engagement, which really means learning,” Dr. Silka says. CMH partnered with OHSU many years ago to grow and improve the community. Since the hospital is located in a small, coastal area, it was important that patients did not have to drive out of town for appointments or same-day surgeries. Rather, it would be best to have everything they needed here at CMH. Collaborating with OHSU helped immensely with that process. “Collaboration allows for synergy, where the best of both organizations can leverage resources and talent and become better. CMH without OHSU is very robust, as a long-standing pillar of health care in the region,” Dr. Silka says. “But I think with OHSU as our partner, it allows us a pipeline to cutting-edge thinking around health care — and certainly recruiting. That’s often lost at smaller community centers and Critical Access Hospitals, but this really brings together the best of both places.” Improving the ED for the future Currently, the ED provides emergent care, traumatic resuscitation and stabilization. But the ED has outgrown its space, Dr. Silka says. That’s why with the BuildCMH Expansion Project, the ED will be even better equipped to provide care more efficiently and with a greater capacity. “The way it was built doesn’t really account for our current volume,” Dr. Silka says. “The expansion will improve efficiency and comfort for patient privacy. “The patient rooms are crucial for acute health care delivery,” he says. “It’s not just the size, but the way that the rooms are designed, the configuration of our equipment, and where the providers and nurses will be. Being positioned more effectively to give care will shift the curve as far as quality and patient experience.” In addition, the space will be improved for ED caregivers, offering room for nurses, support staff and providers to collaborate, which is crucial to giving patients the best care. The expansion will not only benefit the ED, patients and caregivers — it will benefit the community. “The expanded facility allows the hospital to be the pillar of this community,” Dr. Silka says. “It’s going to be a nicer, larger facility and will provide health education, maintenance and the kinds of things I think would be more amenable to that. I think allowing us to assume that position in the community will enhance the services we’re able to implement here.” Paul Silka, MD, MHA, FACEP
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