Premier Health’s new regional referral center goal is to enhance patient access

One phone call to the new center, which opens in the Dayton Media Center, 1611 S. Main St., on Sept. 4, will prompt more seamless care, officials said at a gathering at the center Wednesday night.

This is how the process is to work: Referring hospitals, nursing homes and physicians who need to transfer or directly admit a patient to a Premier Health facility will contact the referral center.

The center "will ensure our patients receive the care they need as soon as possible," said April Anderson, M.D., the center's medical director.

"It's every exciting for Premier Health. It's very exciting for Dayton," she said.

More than 60 staff members will be able to access real-time information in the center to find the optimal spot to care for incoming patients among the more than 1,600 licensed beds Premier has across its system. To do that, staffers will be working with high-tech computers, a GPS system and remote video monitoring to track the system’s medical aircraft and mobile intensive care units.

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The center also will house communications for CareFlight's medical helicopter services, which cover a 17-county area. Staff will arrange for an admitting physician to be in place when a patient arrives at a facility.

"Combining these services into one new center will enhance communication and coordination of these critical services throughout out entire health system, and ultimately will enhance the health of the communities we serve," Premier Health President and CEO Mary Boosalis said in a prepared statement.

The center will bring an end to Premier's handling access and transfers, CareFlight communications and bed access from separate locations.

Premier is the region's second largest employer and the largest health care system in southwest Ohio.

The health system has five hospital locations: