Preserving the Health of Our Culture.

In this issue Home

Are you at risk for prediabetes?

Understanding portion sizes

TGMC's wound care & hyperbaric unit

Our award-winning imaging center

A medical checklist for adults

A reminder for caregivers

TGMC heroes

Emergency care



Emergency care and Fast Track


Avoid waiting unnecessarily in the emergency room with these helpful tips:

 Use emergency care services only for serious illnesses and injuries.

Establish a healthy relationship with your primary care physician, and arrange treatment with him or her for nonemergency illnesses and injuries.

Make sure everyone in your family has an annual flu shot, especially those at risk for the flu.

Keep your medicine cabinet stocked with over-the-counter medications to treat minor illnesses, colds, fever, cough and congestion.
Emergency services are in greater demand now than any other time of the year. Flu season has arrived, and cooler weather historically brings in people with complaints of coughs, colds and sore throats. Adding to this are holiday celebrations, which can lead to more accidents in the home and on the roads.

"Combine all those factors and you can have a very busy emergency department," says Jana Daigle, RN, MSHSA, CEN, Emergency Department director at Terrebonne General Medical Center (TGMC). "At TGMC, we are committed to providing the most advanced emergency care as efficiently as possible."

First come, first served?
 Like most hospitals, TGMC bases emergency care on the severity of each patient's illness or injury — not on a "first come, first served" basis.

"We recognize that having a cough, a cold or a sore throat is miserable, but we use a priority system that helps us decide which patients to see first," Daigle says. "The more serious a person's condition, the more priority we give that person."

Image of medical equipment Get on the Fast Track
 One way TGMC is helping to reduce Emergency Department wait times is through using a computerized tracking system that helps manage patient flow. The state-of-the-art system provides a wealth of information about each patient, including how long he or she has been waiting. This information helps the staff see each patient as quickly as possible.

TGMC also offers daily Fast Track services for patients who come to the Emergency Department for treatment of nonemergency care. A triage nurse sees each walk-in patient to determine the severity of the person's illness or injury. Based on the nurse's assessment, the patient will be given emergency or Fast Track care. For Fast Track hours, call (985) 873-4150.

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Terrebonne General Medical Center