Emergency Department

The UCSF Emergency Department cares for patients with urgent medical conditions ranging from complex problems such as heart attacks and strokes to more simple conditions such as cuts and broken bones. We are open 24 hours a day and serve more than 40,000 patients a year.

Our team includes board-certified emergency medicine specialists, nurses trained in emergency and critical care, and other specialists who are called upon as needed in areas such as gynecology, neurology, obstetrics, orthopedics, pediatrics and surgery.

The department features:

• Waiting room with television, accessible bathroom facilities and 24-hour security
• Private exam and treatment rooms
• Digital radiology suite and CT scanner
• Bedside ultrasound to speed evaluation, when appropriate
• Rapid registration and triage of patients to minimize wait times
• Fast-track treatment for minor problems such as ankle sprains, cuts and broken bones
• Computerized tracking system, charting and discharge instructions that enhance patient privacy, safety and after-care treatment

Emergency care for children and expecting mothers

Emergency care for infants, children and adolescents is available at the Children's Emergency Department at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital San Francisco. The Children's Emergency Department also serves pregnant women.

Acute and urgent care

Screening and Acute Care Clinic

The UCSF Screening and Acute Care Clinic offers care for medical problems that are not life threatening but need same-day evaluation. The clinic operates on a walk-in appointment basis. Appointments are scheduled until all time slots are filled.

Golden Gate Urgent Care

UCSF has partnered with Golden Gate Urgent Care to provide access to convenient urgent care options throughout the Bay Area. Golden Gate Urgent Care has locations in San Francisco, Oakland and Mill Valley, and is open evenings and weekends. They accept online appointments and walk-in.

Specialty services

The UCSF Emergency Department has state-of-the-art diagnostic tools and provides specialized care not available 24 hours a day at many community emergency departments. Specialty services for complex medical problems include:

• Computed tomography imaging (CT scan). The CT scanner can produce detailed images of several types of tissue – such as lung, bone, soft tissue and blood vessels – to diagnose problems such as cancers, infectious diseases, traumatic injuries and musculoskeletal disorders. The CT scan is a method of body imaging involving a thin X-ray beam that rotates around the patient. Small detectors measure the X-rays and a computer analyzes the data to construct a cross-sectional image. These images can be stored, viewed on a monitor or printed on film.
• Catheterization lab and emergency angioplasty. Patients who complain of chest pain are immediately evaluated with an electrocardiogram. If a heart attack is diagnosed, the patient is quickly evaluated by a cardiologist and may be sent to our catheterization lab for evaluation and possible treatment by an interventional radiologist. In the case of a heart attack, arteries flowing to the heart are examined. If an artery is obstructed, a procedure is performed through a catheter to open the artery and reestablish blood flow to the heart.
• Stroke consultations. Patients suffering from acute strokes are evaluated by neurologists for emergency treatment. Consultations by a neurologist are available 24 hours a day for stroke patients. Treatments, such as thrombolytic therapy, also are available. Known as clot busters, thrombolytics are medications that break up or dissolve blood clots, the main cause of heart attack and stroke. The UCSF Neurovascular Disease and Stroke Center has been certified by the Joint Commission as a primary stroke center, the first hospital in San Francisco to receive this designation.