WVU Medicine Berkeley Medical Center emergency department receives geriatric accreditation

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. – WVU Medicine Berkeley Medical Center has been awarded the bronze standard – Level 3 Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation (GEDA) by The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP).

The ACEP was founded in 1968 with a mission of training physicians to provide quality emergency care in the nation’s hospitals. Today, they represent more than 38,000 emergency physicians, residents and medical students.

The ACEP launched the GEDA program in May 2018 in an effort to improve and standardize emergency care for older adults across the nation. In order to achieve GEDA accreditation, an emergency department must demonstrate excellence in geriatric care by meeting specific criteria provided by the ACEP.

As an accredited Level 3 emergency department, Berkeley Medical Center incorporates GEDA best practices, offers inter-disciplinary geriatric education and provides access to geriatric appropriate equipment and supplies.

“The number of emergency department visits for patients age 65 and older has increased and will continue to rise,” Ben Deuell, D.O., emergency medicine, said. “As more seniors visit our emergency department, so do the complexities of their medical care. Receiving ACEP Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation shows our devotion to these patients and their complex physical and social conditions. GEDA signifies to our hospital staff and community that we continually strive to better the care delivered to this specific population of patients.”