Abrazo Buckeye Emergency Center

Buckeye, Arizona

Abrazo Buckeye Emergency Center is a 14-bed stand-alone emergency department that serves nearly 30,000 patients per year.

This unique power-house ED is located in southwest Arizona and is the first-line treatment location east and north of the California and Mexico borders.

Regardless of the high volume of patients, the ED team consistently delivers high-quality, safe care to the community that it serves. Abrazo Buckeye Emergency Center is the flagship of the Tenet Health hospital system, which prides itself as a being a community built on care.

As a top performer in the Tenet Health system in the greater Phoenix area, the team sought to improve upon evidence-based practices where nurses are empowered to contribute to decision-making processes and lead quality improvement initiatives. One such initiative was geared toward decreasing the door-to-CT time for stroke patients, which resulted in a marked improvement of 20.1 percent. Other initiatives included reduction in number of patient falls and improved medication safety administration. This is the first Lantern Award for the department, which prides itself on collaboration and teamwork among nursing and ancillary staff.