State's first stand-alone ER is coming to Chaska

It may sound like a cross between "ER" and "Little House on the Prairie," but the first stand-alone emergency room facility in Minnesota has been approved for Chaska.

The proposed $29 million building is supposed to be a hospital without beds, designed to treat all levels of trauma without admitting patients overnight, according to Bob Stevens, CEO of Ridgeview Medical Center in Waconia, which will operate the facility.

He said the three-story, 100,000-square-foot building, to be built near Hwy. 41 and the new Hwy 312, will be one of 90 stand-alone ER facilities around the country.

"It will be like any other ER except it will be free-standing," said Stevens, who got City Council approval for the project this week. "We thought that this concept was perfect for this area."

The Chaska ER will include a day-surgery facility, an imaging center and trauma equipment. There will even be a pad for landing helicopters.

A staff of 10 emergency room-certified doctors and dozens of other medical personnel will keep the ER operating 24 hours a day.

If patients need admittance or higher levels of treatment, they will be transferred to hospitals, Stevens said.

Ridgeview, the leading medical provider in the Chaska-Waconia area, will break ground for the new ER in the fall and open the facility in early 2010.

The Minnesota Hospital Association estimates that Chaska, Chanhassen, Victoria, Carver and western Eden Prairie together account for about 16,000 ER visits a year.

Substantial savings

Stevens estimates that his new ER will siphon off thousands of patients from hospitals in surrounding areas -- including his own hospital in Waconia -- and eventually serve about 15,000 patients annually by its third year of operation.

He said Ridgeview sees financial and medical benefits to building a free-standing ER instead of a full-blown hospital.

Building a 75-bed hospital might cost as much as $100 million. "There are substantial cost savings," Stevens said.

Also, having an emergency room between Waconia and the Twin Cities will bring emergency care closer to the company's target audience. "It's a strategic advantage to bring care closer," he said.

As a result, thousands of patients who might go to other providers will be brought into the Ridgeview system. That could result in new customers.

"It's a strategy to get people familiar with the ... brand," said Chuck Salmon, director of operations for Swedish Medical Center's stand-alone ER in Washington state near Seattle.

Also, a closer facility can mean saving precious minutes in travel time, which could lead to saving more lives, he said.

"Time is always of the essence in an emergency," Stevens said.

A model to follow

The proposed Chaska facility will be modeled after a stand-alone ER opened by Swedish Medical Center in 2005, the first such facility in Washington state.

Salmon said Tuesday that it has been a great success, serving more than 20,000 patients in 2007.

"The emergency department is capable of handling any life-threatening emergency," Salmon said.

The Swedish ER was built in Issaquah, a city of about 24,000 about 15 miles east of Seattle. It is also one of the richest and fastest-growing cities in Washington. Salmon said the population of the area served by the ER is about 100,000.

"In this particular market there is a sizable population base that is underserved beyond primary care," he said.

Stevens said it is no accident that the planned Chaska operation and business model are very similar to the Swedish model.

Both companies are smaller, aggressive medical providers looking to expand their brand and attract new patients. They are also both situated in relatively affluent areas.

Stevens last year led a group of doctors, nurses and Ridgeview executives on a tour of the Issaquah ER facility.

"We learned a lot," Stevens said Tuesday.

The group was so impressed that Ridgeview will be following the Swedish model by having no waiting rooms, taking patients directly to examination rooms and handling patient registration there.

Ridgeview also is hoping to match Swedish in getting patients out the door within 90 minutes of entering the ER.

"It's a unique concept," Salmon said. "It's kind of ... the future."

Herón Márquez Estrada • 612-673-4280