Mission Regional 1st in Hidalgo County to be Re-Accredited as a Geriatric Emergency Department

MISSION, June 2025 – Mission Regional Medical Center has become the first hospital in  Hidalgo County to be re-accredited as a Geriatric Emergency Department by the American College of Emergency Physicians.

In 2020, Mission Regional became the first and only institution in the entire Rio Grande Valley to achieve this accreditation — which recognizes that the hospital is committed to the highest standards of care for older adults in the South Texas community.

The Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation (GEDA) program is the culmination of years of progress in emergency care of older adults. The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) — along with the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, the Emergency Nurses Association, and the American Geriatrics Society — developed and released geriatric ED guidelines in 2014.

The guidelines recommend measures such as adding geriatric-friendly equipment and specialized emergency room staff trained in geriatric care; enhanced safety protocols; senior-focused care designed to improve health outcomes for older patients; and more routine screening for dementia, delirium, and fall risk, among other vulnerabilities.

“At Mission Regional, we are dedicated to ensuring that our senior community receives the highest standard of emergency care,” said Kane Dawson, President & CEO of Mission Regional Medical Center.

Cesar Guerra, RN, Chief Nursing Officer for Mission Regional, noted that, as part of Prime Healthcare, Mission Regional “is focused on ensuring seniors have the best experience possible when coming to our hospitals — including shorter wait times when visiting our emergency department.”

“We are committed to being leaders in the healthcare community with our senior-focused service line, which provides tailored, well-coordinated care for older adults throughout their entire hospital experience,” Mr. Guerra added.

In order to receive accreditation, an emergency department must incorporate a number of best practices for geriatric care, along with inter-disciplinary geriatric education, and have geriatric-appropriate equipment and supplies available. Some of the best practices include:

• Providing standardized approaches to care that address common geriatric issues
• Ensuring optimal transitions of care from the Emergency Department to other settings (inpatient hospitalization, home, community-based care, rehabilitation, long-term care)
• Promoting geriatric-focused quality improvement and enhancements of the physical environment and supplies
• Making pharmacists accessible at the patient’s bedside, to answer questions regarding medications for senior adults.

“The American College of Emergency Physicians, with support from The Gary and Mary West Health Institute and John A. Hartford Foundation, implemented the Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation program to recognize those emergency departments that provide excellent care for older adults,” stated Sandy Schneider, MD, FACEP and Kevin Biese, MD, MAT, FACEP of The American College of Emergency Physicians. “As such, we are excited to announce that Mission Regional Medical Center’s Emergency Department has achieved the bronze standard — Level 3 GEDA accreditation.”

Dr. Schneider and Dr. Biese noted that Mission Regional’s emergency department is “led by a remarkable team of interdisciplinary leaders, including Heriberto J. Alanis, MD; Eira Romero, RN; Mauricio Reyes and colleagues.”

“Mission Regional Medical Center’s accreditation signals to the public that your institution is focused on the highest standards of care for your communities’ older adults,” they added.

In addition to the geriatric accreditation, Mission Regional Medical Center is the only hospital in the Valley to receive an “A” grade for patient safety for nine times in a row from the Leapfrog Group, a non-profit organization that rates hospitals on patient safety.

For more information on award-winning care for senior adults and other patients in the Valley, please call 956-323-9000 or visit www.missionrmc.org.