Beaufort Memorial Leaders Win Palmetto Gold Awards for Outstanding Nursing

Kremer, the director of the Pratt Emergency Center, joined Beaufort Memorial in 2005 and has seen the emergency department grow to serve approximately 50,000 patients annually. Over the last year, he has led an initiative to measurably reduce wait times for patients being treated in the emergency room and the time it takes to transfer them to a hospital unit when inpatient care is needed. The new processes expedite a coordinated hand-off of patients to nursing units and alert housekeeping to prepare the room for the next patient, thus reducing the time patients spend in the emergency room and enabling staff to accommodate a growing volume of ER patients. The efforts have also improved overall patient satisfaction.

“Kevin’s deep knowledge of emergency services and workflow has been instrumental in improving patient care for everyone who enters our doors,” Carroll said. “From his work on development of the soon-to-be-built mental health crisis stabilization unit to increasing staff satisfaction through comprehensive onboarding and mentorship programs, Kevin never stops innovating and educating in ways that benefit us all.”