Committed to excellence in emergency care

As a certified Level III trauma center, Great Plains offers the greatest depth and breadth of advanced specialties and emergency services in west central Nebraska. Open  24/7, our 12-bed emergency care center is one of the most experienced in the region, serving more than 17,000 children and adults each year.

Our emergency physicians are board-certified in emergency medicine and are supported by a medical staff who, combined, are board-certified in more than 28 specialties. We are staffed by dedicated emergency department nurses, many of whom hold advanced certifications in emergency care.

Our center is supported by a round-the-clock comprehensive diagnositic imaging program (complete with 64-slice CT and MRI) and a surgical intensive care unit. If ever the need arises, we are home to Nebraska's only Joint Commission designated Primary Stroke Center and interventional heart and vascular center west of Kearney.

Whether you come through our doors via private vehicle, ambulance or medical air transport, we stand ready to serve you with the highest level of care and compassion.

Wait times less than the national average

Making your visit as quick and comfortable as possible is among our highest priority. Our average emergency department wait time is significantly less than the national average of more than four hours.

Your emergency department visit

Upon arrival, please check in with the registration clerk, who will send you to a triage room.  There a triage nurse will obtain your vital signs, gather information about your symptoms, or injury, and obtain your past medical history.

Depending on your condition, you will be sent to the registration area or immediately brought back to the patient care area. This process assures that the most seriously ill patients are seen by the physician first.  This means that some patients may be seen out of order of arrival. We will make every effort to see you as quickly as possible.

Things to tell the emergency department staff

Having accurate information about you, your symptoms and medical history are critical to providing excellent care.  Our nurses, staff and physicians will ask you many questions to ensure they have as complete a picture as possible.  We encourage you to be open in all your communications with the medical staff concerning any health or well being issues.  As required by law, all information provided is confidential. 

To help the staff to assess and treat you, make sure you tell them:

• Any health problems you have had, onset, duration, what made it worse, and what provided relief.
• All complaints of pain.  Identify where it hurts, how bad it hurts, how long the pain has been there, what makes it worse and what improves it.  Please include medications, prescribed and non-prescribed, that you have taken for pain.
• All drugs and treatments used in the last 15 days or on a continuous basis. If you do not know this, especially the drugs by dose and frequency, please bring all your medications in their containers with you when you come to the ED.
• Any drug or food allergies.
• If you are pregnant, think you may be pregnant or are breast-feeding.
• Any other facts pertaining to your health or well being.
• Any physical or mental abuse.
• Current vaccinations.

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