Atrium Health MED-1 Deployed to Help Increase Access to Care in the Region

One-of-a-kind hospital on wheels will serve as an extension of the Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center emergency departments

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 28, 2022 – Atrium Health’s Mobile Emergency Department, MED-1, will be deployed to Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center and Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital to help with emergency department services. The state-of-the-art emergency department on wheels will be used to help treat less critical patients, providing added bed space. Both pediatric and adult emergency departments in the Charlotte area – and around the country – are experiencing an increase in patients due to flu and other viral illnesses that were less prevalent during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when measures such as masking and social distancing were in place.

Atrium Health is fortunate to own two of these mobile hospitals, which can be used for a number of purposes, including caring for patients when there is a need to increase hospital capacity. In January 2021, Atrium Health MED-1 deployed to Atrium Health Pineville to help with the surge of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are grateful to work for a health care system that has invested into an asset to have a mobile hospital like MED-1 at the ready to deploy in circumstances such as those we are facing now,” said Vicki Block, senior vice president and Central Market President for Atrium Health. “Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center is not immune to the volume hospitals are currently experiencing around the country and, as the region’s only Level I Trauma Center, we must be ready for anything and everything that could come through our doors. Having another amazing tool, such as Atrium Health MED-1, will allow us to increase bed capacity and continue to care for our patients and our community who need us the most.”

Patients who may need lab work, medication refills or imaging, such as X-rays, could be seen in Atrium Health MED-1. Other examples of treatment administered might include, but are not limited to, rashes, ear pain, lacerations and minor sprains. Patients seeking care will continue to go directly to the emergency room and will be directed by staff from there.

“Community members know Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital as a trusted partner to provide the best care for their children, including emergency care, and we won’t let them down despite the increase in volume due to an unprecedented viral season,” said Callie Dobbins, senior vice president at Atrium Health Levine Children’s. “We are grateful and fortunate to have access to Atrium Health MED-1. By using this mobile hospital as an extension of our emergency department, we will be able to increase capacity and continue to deliver high-quality access to care to families across the Charlotte region.”

Owned by Atrium Health and based in Charlotte, Atrium Health MED-1 is a mobile hospital designed to provide comprehensive patient care at the site of a disaster, mass casualty incident or community event. Providing on-site medical care, Atrium Health MED-1 extends the hospital’s mission to improve health, elevate hope and advance healing – for all.

Atrium Health MED-1 was first deployed for nearly two months in 2005 to coastal Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina, where 7,500 patients were treated – for everything from heart attacks and strokes to serious infections. More recently, in late 2018, Atrium Health MED-1 assisted the Pender County, North Carolina, community recover after Hurricane Florence forced Pender Memorial Hospital to close temporarily.

This will be the second time Atrium Health has deployed it to support one of its own facilities in the Charlotte area. 

• Atrium Health MED-1 was developed in 2000 and has 12 acute care beds and a two-bed operating room.
• This unique mobile hospital includes digital X-ray, ultrasound, lab, pharmacy and other equipment needed to operate an emergency department.
• Atrium Health teammates often deploy with the mobile hospital, including nurses, doctors, trauma surgeons, paramedics, certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), information services support personnel and other staff including, but not limited to, the emergency, intensive care unit and surgical departments.
• Atrium Health MED-1 is an acronym for Mobile Emergency Department.

Due to safety and security for incoming and outcoming EMS vehicles, as well as patient privacy, media is not permitted on site. Supplemental b-roll and imagery will be available upon request.

About Atrium Health 
Atrium Health is a nationally recognized leader in shaping health outcomes through innovative research, education and compassionate patient care. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Atrium Health is an integrated, nonprofit health system with more than 70,000 teammates serving patients at 40 hospitals and more than 1,400 care locations. It provides care under the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist name in the Winston-Salem, North Carolina, region, as well as Atrium Health Navicent and Atrium Health Floyd in Georgia and Alabama. Atrium Health is renowned for its top-ranked pediatric, cancer and heart care, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. A recognized leader in experiential medical education and groundbreaking research, Wake Forest University School of Medicine is the academic core of the enterprise, including Wake Forest Innovations, which is advancing new medical technologies and biomedical discoveries. Atrium Health is also a leading-edge innovator in virtual care and mobile medicine, providing care close to home and in the home. Ranked nationally among U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals in eight pediatric specialties and for rehabilitation, Atrium Health has also received the American Hospital Association’s Quest for Quality Prize and its 2021 Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care Award, as well as the 2020 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Health Equity Award for its efforts to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in care. With a commitment to every community it serves, Atrium Health seeks to improve health, elevate hope and advance healing – for all, providing $2.46 billion last year in free and uncompensated care and other community benefits.