VA Central Iowa Health Care System earns Bronze Standard in geriatric emergency care

The GEDA program was implemented by ACEP, with support from The Gary and Mary West Health Institute and John A. Hartford Foundation, to recognize those emergency departments that provide excellent care for older adults.

Led by a remarkable team of interdisciplinary leaders, including Dr. Randy Daniel; Patrick Ragland, RN; and Colleagues; VA Central Iowa Health System’s accreditation signals that the institution is focused on the highest standards of care for the communities’ older adults. 

The GEDA program is the culmination of years of progress in emergency care of older adults. In 2014, ACEP along with the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, Emergency Nurses Association, and American Geriatrics Society, developed and released geriatric ED guidelines, recommending measures ranging from adding geriatric-friendly equipment to specialized staff to more routine screening for delirium, dementia, and fall risk, among other vulnerabilities. 

The voluntary GEDA program, which includes three levels similar to trauma center designations, provides specific criteria and goals for emergency clinicians and administrators to target. The accreditation process provides more than two dozen best practices for geriatric care and the level of GEDA accreditation achieved depends upon how many of these best practices an emergency department is able to meet. A Level 3 emergency department must incorporate many of these best practices, along with providing interdisciplinary geriatric education, and have geriatric appropriate equipment and supplies available.

The GEDA Board of Governors will also provide feedback to help VA Central Iowa Health System continue to evolve its geriatric Emergency Department and this feedback will also serve as areas of focus for the reaccreditation process in three years. 

The VA Central Iowa Health Care System has worked hard to coordinate and accomplish this accreditation and will continue to strive to maintain and improve excellence in Veteran care. 

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Samantha Hircock, Visual Information Specialist

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