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In 2022, the emergency department of a large Louisiana hospital faced a crisis — not just of overcrowding and inefficiency, but of culture. As a Level 1 trauma center, the facility was overwhelmed — patients crowded the hallways, staff morale was at an all-time low, and critical performance metrics like discharge times and patient satisfaction scores lagged well below acceptable levels. The ER’s residency program was also floundering, with only 1 in 12 residents opting to stay post-residency.

Erika Havelka, MD, is a board-certified emergency physician at Illinois Emergency Medicine Specialists (IEMS). She serves as the pediatric physician champion for four UChicago Medicine AdventHealth hospitals: Bolingbrook, Glen Oaks, Hinsdale, and La Grange, and has played a key role in helping these hospitals achieve two EDAP certifications. 

A medical residency program is a stage of graduate medical training that physicians undertake after completing medical school. It provides hands-on, supervised training in a specific medical specialty or subspecialty.  Emergency Care Partners’ (ECP) New York-based partner group Progressive Emergency Physicians (PEP) manages two emergency medicine residency programs at Good Samaritan University Hospital and St. Joseph Hospital in Long Island.   

Local physician partnerships are increasingly recognized as the gold standard for emergency department staffing. Physician partnerships provide a compelling alternative to national contract management organizations by offering community-driven care, fostering physician engagement, and aligning closely with the unique needs of their patient populations.

A medical fellowship program is an advanced training program that doctors complete after their residency. It provides specialized education and hands-on experience in a specific area of medicine. Emergency Care Partners (ECP) New York-based partner group Progressive Emergency Physicians (PEP) leads and manages the Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) fellowship program at Good Samaritan University Hospital.