Providing outstanding emergency medical services to our city and state

Organized in 1996, the Department of Emergency Medicine grew out of the former academic division of the Department of Surgery known as the Division of Emergency Services. This new organization provided for enhanced response to patient care, attention to quality assurance, and resident training activities.

The major responsibility of the department is the provision of patient care in the University of Alabama Hospital Emergency Department, the UAB Highlands Emergency Department, and the UAB Freestanding Emergency Department of Gardendale. This responsibility includes all instructional and quality assurance activities. Although the faculty members at the Children’s Hospital are not members of the Department of Emergency Medicine, the department provides instructional support activities with joint educational conferences and enjoys an excellent relationship with the faculty in the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine.

The major clinical facility within the Medical Center is UAB Hospital, consisting of over 1,100 beds in multiple separate structures. The North Pavilion, opened in 2004, houses the University Emergency Department as well as a number of inpatient medical, surgical, and critical care beds and operating suites.

The UAB Highlands Emergency Department is conveniently located on the Southern perimeter of the UAB campus. It is the first accredited Level 1 Geriatric Emergency Department in the Southeast.

The UAB Freestanding Emergency Department of Gardendale is the newest clinical facility, opening its doors in 2019 and providing the only emergency medical services on the I-65 corridor between Cullman and downtown Birmingham. 

The Department of Emergency Medicine is composed of board-certified emergency physicians dedicated to the provision of patient care in the Emergency Department including all instructional, educational, and quality-assurance activities.