Call Coverage
Unreferred Call Schedules for the Emergency Department
Call schedules are the responsibility of individual sections and/or specialties. All sections are responsible for maintaining continuous coverage for emergency services in each of the specialties and sub-specialties represented in each section. Call schedules are submitted initially to the Medical Staff Office. Changes to call schedules can be made by calling the Medical Staff Office during the day and by calling Patient Placement at 325-670-2455 at night and on weekends.
On-Call Physician Coverage for Unreferred ER Patients
When a Medical Staff member is on unreferred ER call, they are on call for the hospital and the region. Hendrick has a Level III trauma designation from the State of Texas and serves 24 counties in the surrounding area with approximately 350,000-400,000 residents. When on unreferred call, physicians called by the Emergency Medicine physicians are obligated to consult and/or assume care of the patient by timely evaluation of the patient, on-site, in the Emergency Department. On-call physicians are required to respond within 30 minutes for STAT cases and within one hour for other calls.
Click here to see 24 County Service Areas
On-Call Physician Coverage (Not Unreferred ER Coverage)
Medical Staff Members on-call for their patients or covering another physician’s patients must be accessible at all times and be able to respond to hospital requests via standard accepted means of communication within thirty (30) minutes in the case of emergency situations concerning the care of those patients.
Advance Practice Providers (APPs)
APPs are non-physicians credentialed and privileged through the Medical Staff process. APPs who are required to have sponsoring Medical Staff members may not work in the absence of their sponsor unless their sponsor, or alternate sponsor, is able to be at the patient’s bedside within thirty minutes if called to do so. Medical Staff members may not check out to an APP to cover in their absence.
Emergency Operations & Command Center
Supervision of the medical care of casualties shall be the responsibility of the Medical Care Branch Director. The Medical/Technical Specialist(s) may provide medical direction to the Incident Commander in the EOC.
The Medical Care Branch Director or next in command will monitor the staffing of the various care and treatment facilities to ensure physicians are available where required. Physicians present in the Medical Center on initiation of Operation D, should proceed to the treatment area assigned on their disaster response cards. Arriving physicians should proceed to the treatment location designated on their disaster response cards. Medical Command will assign physicians to treatment facilities as casualty requirements dictate.
Physicians should report to the following areas:
| Surgery | Surgery | Anesthesiologists, CRNAs, General Surgeons, Neurosurgeons, Oral Surgeons, Orthopedists, Otolaryngologists, Podiatrists, Urologists, Cardio-Vascular Surgeons |
| Triage/Shock and Trauma | Trauma Center | Dentists, Emergency Medicine, Internists, Neurologists, Pediatricians |
| Fracture/First Aid | Pre-Op | Family Practice, Ophthalmologists, Physiatrists |
| Obstetrical | Labor & Delivery | OB/GYNs |
| Pathology | Laboratory | Pathology |
| Burns | Physical Rehab | Plastic Surgeons |
| Radiology | Radiology | Radiologists |
| Cardiac | Cath Lab | Cardiologists |