Fredericksburg Parent

14 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • December 2023 WRITTEN BY EMILY FREEHLING Ask the Expert a sk t h e e x p e rt The Fredericksburg region is one of the fastest-growing areas of Virginia. As the area grows, the location of vital healthcare services must adjust to ensure residents can get the care they need in a timely fashion. Mary Washington Healthcare keeps a constant eye on how Fredericksburg- area residents are using its family of services, which include everything from family-practice physicians to urgent care centers to Mary Washington and Stafford hospitals. In response to recent growth trends, Mary Washington has built a freestanding Emergency Department at Harrison Crossing, which will open in January. This will be the fourth emergency department in the Mary Washington Healthcare system, join- ing the emergency rooms at Mary Washington and Stafford hospitals, and the Emergency Department at Lee's Hill. Like all of the Mary Washington emergency departments, the Harrison Crossing location will be open 24/7 year-round. In addition to the emer- gency department, the Outpatient Center at New Emergency Department at Harrison Crossing Opens in January 540.741.XRAY (9729) | mifimaging.com Medical Imaging at Harrison Crossing Imaging Center for Women › CT › Open MRI › Ultrasound › X-ray › Dexa › 3D Mammography Harrison Crossing will also have outpatient imaging services through Medical Imaging of Fredericksburg, including CT, Open MRI, Ultrasound, X-ray, Dexa scanning, and 3D Mammograms. The board-certified emergency physicians and emer- gency-trained nurses at Mary Washington Healthcare are often the first faces patients see when they need care. As Director of Mary Washington Healthcare Emergency Services, Nehad Abed, BSN, RN, talks about her experience in emergency medicine, and what patients can expect at the new emergency department. Q: What do you like about working in emergency medicine? Nehad Abed: I moved into emergency medicine fairly recently in my 18-year career in nursing at Mary Washington Healthcare. It has been an evolution from inpatient nursing, to being a floor manager and then moving into patient flow, which is all about how we move patients through the hospital to ensure they get the best care. I am still the director of patient flow, but I was excited to also work in emergency care, because the work that emergency nurses do is just amazing. They take care of and stabilize our sickest patients, and they ensure they are ready for the next step, whether that is discharge or being admitted to the hospital. Mary Washington Healthcare

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