UNC School of Medicine’s Division of Geriatric Medicine provides a dedicated service for hospitalized older adults at UNC Hospitals Hillsborough Campus. The hospital is led by Dr. Jeffrey Strickler, DHA, RN, Vice President for UNC Hospitals Hillsborough Campus. Dr. Strickler is a consistent champion for age-friendly care.
If you need hospitalization in the future, ask your physician about Hillsborough as an option for age-friendly care. Without a doubt, the care is exceptional and the facility is beautiful. On top of that, the parking is free.
ACEP Geriatrics Emergency Department Accreditation
In 2018 Hillsborough’s Emergency Department received the prestigious Silver Standard of accreditation award for Geriatric Emergency Department excellence. UNC Hospitals Hillsborough Campus is the first in North Carolina to receive Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation (GEDA). Earning a Level 2 Silver accreditation from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) certifies that staff are trained to assess older patients in more conscientious and comprehensive ways.
We invite you to tour the hospital and our Inpatient Service through the images below. (Click to make the images larger)
As you turn off Waterstone Drive into the UNC Hospitals Hillsborough Campus the hospital will be directly in front of you and parking will be on your left. Parking at this facility is abundant, free and just a short walk to the hospital lobby. (view from 4th floor)
Welcome to the UNC Hillsborough Hospital, a patient and family friendly facility. For your convenience Wi-Fi is available everywhere in the hospital so you always have Internet access.
The main hospital lobby is open, full of light and inviting. The information desk is directly in front of you as you enter and is staffed with helpful and friendly attendants. Stay to the right of the desk and the gift shop and cafe are straight ahead. Across from the gift shop is a hallway with a set of double doors and two elevators. These elevators will take you to the Geriatric Inpatient Service rooms on the 4th floor.
The hallway to the left of the service desk leads to Registration, Imaging, PreCare and at the end of the hall you turn right to continue on to the Emergency Department.
The waiting room includes a recliner and a children's activity table. Views include an overlook of the patio, walking path and woods.
As you step off the elevator you will see the visitor waiting area. This provides you with an alternate space to wait if you need to step out of the private room of your loved one.
As an added convenience for family and friends there is a private kitchenette just off the waiting room.
To the immediate right of the waiting room is the public restroom. The restroom is wheel chair accessible with generous space, enough to accommodate another person if assistance is needed.
Opposite the ice machine, sink and microwave is a low counter with two seats where you can eat, work, read, or sit and look out the window at the woods.
In addition to the kitchenette in the waiting room and the refrigerator in your private room, the 4th floor also has an additional kitchenette for patients and families. Here you will find your kitchen sink, microwave, ice and filtered water, in addition to a coffee station where you can brew fresh coffee by the cup. If you have a coffee preference, you can bring your own K-cups with you.
Ample seating is available for cafe patrons with views out to the covered terrace, patio, open yard, walking path and woods beyond.
Food is cooked fresh each day for every meal. Patient meals are also prepared on site at the Hillsborough Hospital.
Cafe seating also extends outdoors both under the cover of an overhang and on the patio. As with all areas of the hospital the patio and walking path are wheelchair accessible.
There are two nursing stations on 4th floor. As with all areas in the Hillsborough Hospital, corridors and hallways are spacious and open.
Opposite the sink and toilet is the shower. The seat showing in the lowered position can be raised against the wall to create additional space. The entire floor is nonslip and wheelchair accessible.
All patients requiring physical or occupational therapy will not have to go far to work with their therapist. Your therapy room is located on the 4th floor directly across from Nurse Station A.
At UNC Hillsborough Hospital Geriatric Inpatient Service, all patient rooms are private and have added amenities for you and your family. Each room has a secure computer workstation only accessible by medical personnel to access and update patient records. This improves communication, accuracy and security.
Each room has generous space to create a more comfortable and safer environment for patients and medical personnel as they work together. This also ensures that family never feels like they are in the way. Each patient bed has a pressure sensitive mattress to increase patient comfort.
At Hillsborough we know a hospital stay can mean added travel or a hotel stay for a loved one. To better meet the needs of your family we encourage your loved one to stay with you at the hospital. The couch pulls out into a twin size bed, there is an in-room safe, storage, a desk and chair, a refrigerator and a private bathroom with a shower.
In this room you can see the day and night shades. In the window by the bed the day shade is pulled down to reduce daylight yet still allows you to see outside. The night shade is pulled down in the window above the couch. This prevents nearly all daylight from entering the room. In addition to the shades, patient rooms have adjustable indirect light.
Your private bathroom was designed for two people. So if you are a patient needing assistance with transfer, or you and your loved one need to access the bathroom while the shower is in use, this room will meet your needs.
Whether your room is on the south or north side of the hospital, you will see lush green woods beyond either an open grassy area, or just beyond the beautifully landscaped parking area. Views are beautiful, the hospital is calm, even quiet, making your recovery as tranquil as possible. Here you see the walking path which provides you and your family a quiet getaway with warm sun, the rustle of leaves in the trees and the peaceful song of the birds.
Christina L. Shenvi, MD, PhD, FACEP
At Hillsborough’s emergency department, age-friendly care policies and processes, along with special equipment and rooms, aim to improve emergency care for older adults.
Christina Shenvi, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, led UNC’s accreditation efforts, along with Jeff Strickler, DHA, RN, Vice President of UNC Hospitals Hillsborough Campus and a team of nurses, pharmacists, case managers, and more.
Over 60 percent of national hospital admissions for patients over 65 coming through the emergency department. In light of this, accreditation can help hospitals focus on factors leading to fewer hospitalizations and more successful outcomes after discharge.
ACEP launched the accreditation program in 2018 to improve and standardize emergency care for older patients. Biese was appointed as the accreditation program chair and works with hospitals nationally to promote and achieve GEDA accreditation.
