American College of Emergency Physicians Awards Geriatric ER Accreditation
EVANSTON, IL (Oct 27, 2025) – Saint Francis Hospital, a member of the non-profit Prime Healthcare Foundation family, is now recognized by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) with a Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation (GEDA), affirming the hospital’s commitment to providing specialized, compassionate care for older adults in the community. With this recognition, Saint Francis becomes one of only a handful of hospitals in the Chicago area to achieve this national accreditation – among them, four other Prime Healthcare hospitals – underscoring its leadership in advancing care for older adults.
“The GEDA program is the culmination of years of progress in emergency care of older adults,” said Sandy Schneider, MD, of ACEP. She explained, “In 2014, ACEP along with the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, Emergency Nurses Association, and American Geriatrics Society, developed and released geriatric ED guidelines, recommending measures ranging from adding geriatric-friendly equipment to specialized staff, to more routine screenings for delirium, dementia, and fall risk, among other vulnerabilities.”
Kavitha Bhatia, M.D., President and Chair of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, emphasized the hospital’s dedication to meeting community needs. “When Saint Francis became part of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, we committed to actively assessing and addressing the unmet needs of our communities. This accreditation reflects our focus on providing the highest standards of care for older adults in our community. They helped build the foundation of Evanston and its surrounding communities, and we are honored to serve them with the specialized care they deserve.”
Dr. Justin Yee, Saint Francis’s Chief Medical Officer, underscored the significance of the recognition. “As a physician-led health system, Prime Healthcare is dedicated to clinical excellence and addressing unmet healthcare needs in our communities. Nationally recognized for quality, Prime has expanded vital mental health and other senior services across the country at a time when access is critical — especially for older adults. This recognition underscores Prime’s ongoing commitment to providing care that improves outcomes and makes a lasting difference for patients, families, and communities.”
The GEDA program, developed by ACEP, includes three levels of accreditation that guide emergency departments in best practices for geriatric care. To achieve accreditation, hospitals must adopt more than two dozen standards — from providing interdisciplinary geriatric education to ensuring geriatric-appropriate equipment and screening protocols are in place.
Rosenda “Rosey” Barrera, Chief Nursing Officer at Saint Francis, noted that achieving this bronze-level milestone is only the beginning. “While it took a lot of teamwork, resources and commitment to achieve this accreditation, like many things in healthcare, our focus on our communities’ geriatric population is a journey rather than a destination. We will be reassessed in three years and are committed to building on this foundation to continue raising the bar for excellence in all care we provide.”
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ABOUT SAINT FRANCIS HOSPITAL
Founded in 1900, Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston, IL, a not-for-profit member of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, is a 197-bed teaching facility that offers specialized care alongside 24/7 emergency services, including a Level I Trauma Center. Its nursing staff has achieved Magnet® Recognition with Distinction, the highest honor for nursing excellence awarded by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), making it one of only 48 hospitals in the U.S. to have earned the recognition.
Saint Francis provides advanced surgical interventions for serious and life-threatening conditions. It also offers expertise in cardiology, oncology, and orthopedics, and an array of minimally invasive procedures including robotic-assisted surgery that often results in same-day discharges and significantly shorter recovery times. Its dedicated care teams prioritize understanding your health needs to deliver the most appropriate care tailored for you.