Find an Emergency Room Near You
When Should I Go to the Emergency Room?
When severe medical conditions or life-threatening injuries happen, our main campus and community hospital emergency departments are here to treat you quickly — with reduced wait times. If you or a loved one need to be admitted, you'll get seamless care from our hospital and specialty service providers.
A Message to Our Community About Emergency Care
There are a reduced number of visits to local emergency departments as residents continue to stay home and practice social distancing. Patients may be reluctant to seek immediate medical care for health emergencies due to fear of contracting COVID-19. It’s important to remember that delays in receiving life-saving care for stroke or heart attack symptoms can lead to permanent disability or even death.
During this unprecedented time, Cleveland Clinic has taken a number of steps to ensure our hospitals are safe for our caregivers and patients and help limit the spread of the virus. This includes providing appropriate personal protective equipment for caregivers and patients, limiting access into our facilities, restricting visitation, canceling public events, suspending non-essential procedures and performing temperature checks for everyone who enters our doors.
All of Cleveland Clinic’s emergency departments remain open for care and we encourage the public to seek immediate medical attention for symptoms that suggest serious medical emergencies, such as stroke or heart attack. All patients coming to our emergency departments are screened for COVID-19 symptoms and are provided with a mask to help maintain the health and safety of our patients and caregivers and to prevent the spread of the virus. Any patients with COVID-19 symptoms are taken to a designated area within the emergency department for care.
We are working closely with our local first responders to take the appropriate precautions needed to protect them and the patients they transport. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, such as chest pain, shortness of breath or other heart attack and stroke symptoms, call 911 right away.
When You Need to Visit the Nearest Emergency Room
Our Cleveland Clinic emergency rooms provide care for the sickest patients — from severe medical problems to critical injuries. Below are examples of when you should seek emergency care:
- Accidents, including falls and car crashes.
- Chest pain.
- Coughing up or vomiting blood.
- Drug overdose.
- Fever.
- Head injury.
- Injuries caused by violence.
- Life-threatening conditions.
- Loss of consciousness.
- Major trauma.
- Poisoning or suspected poisoning.
- Severe burns.
- Severe headache.
- Severe or persistent abdominal pain.
- Shortness of breath.
- Sudden or unexpected paralysis (stroke symptoms).
- Suicidal or homicidal feelings.
- Uncontrolled or excessive bleeding.
Not sure where to go for care?
The emergency room is a busy place! Longer wait times are common. If your condition isn’t life-threatening, know that your insurance company could deny payment. In that case, please consider alternative walk-in options such as a Cleveland Clinic Express Care® Clinic or urgent care clinic. You can also see a provider with a virtual visit from your laptop, tablet or smart phone using Cleveland Clinic Express Care® Online.
Have questions about payment?
Most insurance plans are accepted. Payment, including co-pays, is required at time of service.
Pediatric Emergency Rooms
When it's an emergency, you can feel confident knowing your child can quickly get the care they need. With dedicated pediatric emergency rooms on both the East and West sides, we're here when you need us for anything from serious illnesses to critical injuries. We'll take care of your child quickly to help reduce your stress — with less waiting.
How is a dedicated pediatric emergency department unique?
- Specialty trained staff in pediatric emergency care.
- Separate waiting room for children.
- Pediatric-only treatment rooms and equipment.
- Child Life Specialists help children and their families experience less trauma and anxiety during their emergency department visit.
Pediatric Emergency Room Locations
All of our emergency rooms at our main campus and community hospitals are able to treat children. These hospitals provide dedicated pediatric emergency departments for specialized treatment:
Not sure where to go for care?
The emergency room is a busy place! Longer wait times are common. If your condition isn’t life-threatening, know that your insurance company could deny payment. In that case, please consider alternative walk-in options such as a Cleveland Clinic Express Care® Clinic or urgent care clinic. You can also see a provider with a virtual visit from your laptop, tablet or smart phone using Cleveland Clinic Express Care® Online.
Have questions about payment?
Most insurance plans are accepted. Payment, including co-pays, is required at time of service.
Specialized Care for Seniors
Specialized emergency care for those age 65+
Every Cleveland Clinic emergency department (ED) in Northeast Ohio has earned Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation (GEDA) from the American College of Emergency Physicians. National accreditation means these EDs meet rigorous requirements to standardize and improve emergency care of older, high-risk adults.
Emergency medicine and geriatric specialists work together to assess and treat the complex, unique concerns of those age 65+.
Enhanced care for senior patients
- Located within the regular emergency department.
- Private evaluation area with a comforting environment and geriatric supplies/equipment.
- Provide rapid assessment and treatment for life-threatening conditions.
- Emergency medicine and geriatric providers allocate additional time and resources to evaluate all aspects of the senior patient, including:
- Memory/mental health concerns.
- Mobility issues.
- Adverse drug reactions resulting from taking multiple medications.
- Lack of social support.
- Vague symptoms like confusion, weakness, lethargy or “just not acting right,” which may be due to an underlying medical condition.
- Coordinate care across specialties, which may involve pharmacy, physical therapy, and social work.
- Develop a plan of care and determine next steps: whether the patient can be treated and sent home, admitted to the hospital, transitioned to a skilled nursing or rehabilitation facility, or prescribed home care services.
- Once evaluated, the patient will have access to the Successful Aging Program at the Center for Geriatric Medicine to maintain the continuity of care.
GEDA Locations
Cleveland Clinic Emergency Departments with Level 1 GEDA status:
- Cleveland Clinic main campus: Our main campus emergency department became just the thirteenth Level 1 accredited Geriatric ED in the nation. It is one of only three hospitals in Ohio to achieve this gold-level status.
Cleveland Clinic Emergency Departments with Level 2 GEDA status:
Cleveland Clinic Emergency Departments with Level 3 GEDA status:
- Akron General
- Brunswick Family Health Center
- Euclid Hospital
- Fairview Hospital
- Hillcrest Hospital
- Lakewood Family Health Center
- Lutheran Hospital
- Medina Hospital
- South Pointe Hospital
- Twinsburg Family Health and Surgery Center
For older adult emergency care, call 911 or choose a Cleveland Clinic Emergency Department.
