Acute

Acute care hospitals are what we traditionally have thought of when we heard the word "hospital". An "acute" medical condition is one considered to have developed or worsened rapidly, to have severe symptoms, and expected to resolve fairly quickly. Acute care hospitals normally offer a variety of medical services to patients. For example, an acute care hospital may offer maternity and nursery services (OB/GYN and neonatal care for newborns), cardiac (heart) care, internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics (children), neurology (the brain), infectious disease, psychiatry, organ transplant programs, oncology (cancer), orthopedics (bones) and a number of other medical services. Some hospitals try to offer a broad variety of services, some prefer to specialize in only one or two types of medical care. Many hospitals have emergency rooms (E.R.'s), but not all hospitals do. Some hospitals have burn units, others do not. While many hospital services require that patients be admitted to the hospital for a stay of one or more nights, hospitals often offer out-patient services as well (out-patient surgery for minor procedures, out-patient cancer treatments, etc.). Area hospitals that provide numerous acute care services are listed in this section of our web site. North Texas is fortunate to have a number of excellent acute care hospitals. For more long-term hospital admissions for patients with serious conditions, see our section on Long-term Acute Care hospitals, for longer psychiatric or mental health admissions, see our section on Mental Health hospitals, and for intensive rehabilitation admissions (for example, after a stroke), see our section on Rehabilitation Hospitals. Some hospitals may combine acute care with long-term care acute services, or with mental health or rehabilitation services. Read More

It is important that you learn where the closest emergency room is to your home and to your place of work so that you can go there quickly if an emergency occurs. Your doctor may have a hospital where he or she generally sends patients; ask your doctor which hospitals he or she uses so you know where you might be hospitalized if your doctor feels that it is necessary for you.

If you go to an emergency room for care, or if you are to be admitted to a hospital as an in-patient, the hospital will need to see your identification and your insurance cards (for your health insurer, Medicare or Medicaid). The hospital needs to determine to whom they will bill charges for your care. If you do not have health insurance, you will need to make arrangements with the hospital and doctors to privately pay your bills. Some county hospitals will provide care for indigent patients (patients who have no insurance, or not enough insurance, and who cannot pay privately).

If you have prepared a Health Care Power of Attorney (a legal document that will allow someone you have chosen to make medical decisions for you if you become so ill that you cannot make the decisions yourself) or an Advance Directive (a legal document that tells the doctors what type of care you would want if you were close to death), you should take copies of those documents to the hospital with you. Better yet, provide copies of those documents to your hospital now so that they are already in your chart if you are admitted later for an emergency. (For information on Powers of Attorney and Advance Directives, please see the section on Elder Law Attorneys on our site).

Because emergency room care is among the most expensive types of medical care, use the emergency room cautiously. If you believe your condition is critical and you need immediate complex medical care (as in the case of a suspected heart attack, difficulty breathing, a stroke or serious injury), go to the nearest emergency room or call 911 for assistance. If, however, you think you may have the flu or something that, while uncomfortable, is not really an emergency, and if you are tempted to go to the emergency room only because you do not have a local doctor or the doctor's office is closed (evenings or weekends), consider using one of the many "urgent care" facilities that have opened in the metroplex. You will probably be seen as quickly as you would be in an emergency room, but the cost will be hundreds of dollars less. Emergency rooms are designed to deal with true crisis situations and you pay for the expert staff and high-tech equipment when you go there, whether they need to provide you with that high level of care or not. If you use an emergency room for a sore throat or a runny nose, your bill may literally be 8 or 9 times higher than if you saw your own doctor or went to an urgent care clinic.

Because insurers, including Medicare, will only pay for limited hospital stays for many medical conditions, patients are often discharged from the hospital before they are ready to be completely independent again. Sometimes those patients are discharged to alternative hospitals, such as the long-term acute care, mental health or rehabilitation hospitals discussed in those sections of our web site. Sometimes patients go to assisted living (see Assisted Living) or skilled nursing facilities (see Skilled Nursing Facilities) to continue their recoveries before going home. For patients going home, in-home nursing services (see Home Care - Medical), in-home therapy (see Therapies) or companion/homemaker services (see Home Care - Nonmedical) can be of great help while the patient continues to recover.

Hide Long Description

Page(s): 1 | 2
Currently Displaying Listings 1 - 25 of 48

Sort By: Company | City | Zip Code
Sort Type: Ascending | Descending

Arlington Memorial Hospital: 800 W Randol Mill Rd
Arlington, TX 76012
Phone: (817)548-6100
Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth: 1400 Eighth Ave
Fort Worth, TX 76104
Phone: (817)926-2544
Baylor All Saints Medical Center at SW Fort Worth: 7100 Oakmont Blvd
Fort Worth, TX 76132
Phone: (817)346-5700
Baylor Jack & Jane Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital: 621 Hall St
Dallas, TX 75226
Phone: (214)820-0600
Baylor Medical Center at Garland: 2300 Marie Curie
Garland, TX 75042
Phone: (972)487-5000
Baylor Medical Center at Irving: 1901 N MacArthur Blvd
Irving, TX 75061
Phone: (972)579-8525
Baylor Medical Center at Waxahachie: 1405 W Jefferson St
Waxahachie, TX 75165
Phone: (972)923-7000
Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine: 1650 W College
Grapevine, TX 76051
Phone: (817)329-2500
Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano: 4700 Alliance Blvd
Plano, TX 75093
Phone: (469)814-2100
Baylor University Medical Center: 3500 Gaston Ave
Dallas, TX 75246
Phone: (214)820-0111
Centennial Medical Center: 12505 Lebanon Rd
Frisco, TX 75035
Phone: (972)963-3138
Children's Medical Center of Dallas: 1935 Motor St
Dallas, TX 75235
Phone: (214)456-7000

children's hospital
Columbia Medical Centerf of Arlington: 3301 Matlock Rd
Arlington, TX 76015
Phone: (817)472-4850
Cook Children's Medical Center: 801 Seventh Ave
Fort Worth, TX 76104
Phone: (682)885-4000
Denton Regional Medical Center: 3535 S I-35 E
Denton, TX 76210
Phone: (940)384-3066
Frisco Medical Center: 5601 Warren Parkway
Frisco, TX 75034
Phone: (214)618-2000
Harris Methodist Erath County Hospital: 411 N Belknap
Stephenville, TX 76401
Phone: (254)965-1500
Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital: 1301 Pennsylvania Ave
Fort Worth, TX 76104
Phone: (817)250-2000
Harris Methodist H-E-B Hospital: 1600 Hospital Parkway
Bedford, TX 76022
Phone: (817)685-4000
Harris Methodist Northwest Hospital: 108 Denver Trail
Azle, TX 76020
Phone: (817)444-8600
Harris Methodist Southwest: 6100 Harris Parkway
Fort Worth, TX 76132
Phone: (817)433-5000
Harris Methodist Walls Regional Hospital: 201 Walls Dr
Cleburne, TX 76033
Phone: (817)641-2551
Irving Coppell Surgical Hospital: 400 W I-635
Irving, TX 75063
Phone: (972)868-4000
Las Colinas Medical Center: 6800 N MacArthur Blvd
Irving, TX 75039
Phone: (972)969-2000
Mary Shiels Hospital: 3515 Howell St
Dallas, TX 75204
Phone: (214)443-3000