The Trenton Times published the following article on November 15, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

Capital Health to close satellite emergency department in Trenton

By Alyssa Mease/The Times of Trenton
on November 15, 2013 at 9:21 PM

Two years after leaving its Mercer hospital in Trenton for the newly constructed medical center in Hopewell Township, Capital Health has announced it will close the satellite emergency department it has maintained at the former site on Bellevue Avenue.

Average daily visits dropped from 61 in November 2011 to 32 in March, but some days the department sees as few as 12 patients. The majority of those patients do not require emergency care and would be better served in a primary-care setting, the Capital Health officials said in a news release.

“Not only is it better for patients to develop relationships with primary-care providers, but the cost for treatment in the emergency department setting is significantly greater than treatment provided in a physician’s office,” said Eileen Horton, vice president of patient care and chief nursing officer at Capital Health.

The New Jersey Department of Health approved the closure, set for Dec. 17, and said the other two emergency departments in the city — at Capital Health Regional Medical Center on Brunswick Avenue and St. Francis Medical Center at the corner of Hamilton Avenue and Chambers Street — are equipped to provide emergency care for residents, the release said.