The designation recognizes emergency departments with specialized expertise, staffing and resources for patients 65 and older, who represent about one-third of all patients treated in Cedars-Sinai’s Emergency Department each year.

“This recognition reflects our commitment to delivering exceptional, patient-centered emergency care for the older adults of our community,” said Claude Stang, RN, executive director of the Cedars-Sinai Emergency Department. “As the No. 1 Medicare provider in California, we care for thousands of older adults every year, and we are dedicated to keeping them safe and healthy.”

Accreditation reviewers cited several programs and features that distinguish Cedars-Sinai’s approach to geriatric emergency care, including the Barry and Rena Plost Senior Emergency Center within the Emergency Department.

“We try to place patients who would benefit from a quieter environment in our senior care unit, where private rooms, dim lighting and reduced noise can help minimize delirium for patients who are susceptible,” Stang said. “Those seemingly small changes can make a meaningful difference for older adults in the Emergency Department.”

Other components highlighted by reviewers included:

• A specialized geriatric nurse assessment team, trained to identify delirium, dementia, fall risk and social determinants of health.
• Integrated physical therapy and pharmacy services, including prescription medication screening, review and reconciliation.
• Senior-friendly amenities, including reserved reclining chairs in the waiting area, improved signage and lighting, handrails, and accessible bathrooms.
• Tender Loving Care volunteers, who are specially trained to provide companionship and comfort for older adult patients.
• A physician who leads ongoing education on geriatric emergency care for physicians and physician assistants.

Level 1 accreditation builds on Cedars-Sinai’s broader commitment to age-friendly care. The health system also has been named an Age-Friendly Health System Committed to Care Excellence, a recognition from The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, in partnership with the American Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association of the United States.

“Older adults often have unique medical and social needs that require a different approach to emergency care, that centers around the 4M’s (What Matters Most, Mobility, Medications and Mentation) of age-friendly care,” said Sonja Rosen, MD, chief, Section of Geriatric Medicine at Cedars-Sinai. “As an Age-Friendly Health System, every member of our team plays an important role in ensuring patients receive compassionate, specialized attention from the moment they arrive through a seamless transition to the next stage of their recovery.”

The Emergency Department’s research team also has been active in advancing geriatrics research, publishing on sepsis, brain injury, cardiac biomarkers and observation care. The work helps to inform evidence-based practices that further strengthen care for older adults.

Emergency Department Expansion Underway

The accreditation comes as Cedars-Sinai continues a major expansion of its Emergency Department, an investment designed to increase capacity while supporting the specialized care needs of a growing patient population.

The project will add 16,550 square feet to the department and increase the number of care spaces from 60 to 100.

Sam Torbati, MD, chair and medical director of the Emergency Department, said the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2028.

“Smaller improvements, such as a new laboratory, are expected to open this fall,” Torbati said. “Patients will begin to see more significant changes next summer.”

The first major phase will add 15 acute care beds, eight behavioral health beds to treat patients with mental health needs, six critical care and trauma beds, and a dedicated room designed to care for critically ill children. The expansion also will include new waiting areas, an updated triage space and a redesigned patient entrance to improve capacity and the overall care experience.

“Demand for emergency care continues to grow, and we’re committed to finding new ways to improve the experience and quality of care for our patients,” Torbati said. “The expansion is a significant investment in meeting those needs.”

Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University is advancing groundbreaking research and educating future leaders in medicine, biomedical sciences and allied health sciences. Learn more about the university.

“It seems to be a more aggressive strain, and it seems to be a tougher problem,” Sam Torbati, MD, co-chair and medical director of the Cedars-Sinai Emergency Department, said of this year’s flu. “Last year, I don't recall this many patients becoming this ill.”  

Torbati cautioned that it's still very early in Los Angeles’ 2026 flu season, particularly because in the U.S., the flu tends to start along the East Coast and spread westward.  

“It may get much worse,” he said.

The Cedars-Sinai Newsroom spoke with Torbati to learn why patients are getting so sick, how to treat the flu and how to avoid a serious illness.

Who needs emergency care for the flu?

We're seeing a lot of older patients who live by themselves, and if somebody is not keeping an eye on them and they become sick, then no one is taking care of them. They could be lying in bed for two days getting very dehydrated and getting into trouble.

There are also many patients with chronic diseases who develop the flu, and two or three days later they're wiped out. When they come to the hospital, sometimes they’re dehydrated, sometimes they have a bacterial infection and sometimes it's just the flu itself.

The flu, in and of itself, can cause significant problems for patients. It can make them very sick, can make them very much out of it to the point that they can't stand, become dehydrated, and hospitalization becomes necessary to get them back on their feet.

How bad is flu season so far this year?

Around the second week of December, we started seeing a lot of influenza patients coming to the Emergency Department. That spike in flu activity was similarly seen throughout the county. We're seeing patients—the very young, the very old—everybody that gets affected by flu.

We did anticipate, based on some of the predictions from the southern hemisphere, that we were going to see a moderately severe flu season.

What are the most common flu symptoms right now?

In the early phase, we typically see fever, body ache, bone pain, runny nose, cough. The fever usually lasts anywhere from two to five days. Fever tends to stop, and then we end up having a lot of the lingering symptoms. Some patients have coughs that linger for a while. Some can have congestion that can linger for a while. But the average is a good seven to 10 days. So people should expect if they get sick, that it may take that long until they're back to normal, to the point that they feel 100%.

What is the best way to treat the flu?

If you're healthy and younger and you have a viral infection with flu-like symptoms, you basically need to take care of yourself. If you're coughing a lot, take cough medication. If you have a fever, take Tylenol or Motrin. Rest, isolate, drink a lot of fluids so you don't get dehydrated.

For patients who have shortness of breath, asthma or respiratory issues—or for older patients who are developing more severe symptoms—a doctor's visit may become important primarily to make sure that there isn't any complication.

For patients who have underlying medical illnesses—heart failure, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), severe asthma, and transplant patients—the sicker and more complicated their medical history is, and the sicker they feel, the more likely it is that a hospital would be helpful, and coming into the ER would be helpful. For some patients, we will prescribe an antiviral called Tamiflu to reduce the risk of a more serious illness if the medication can be started early enough.

What is the best way to avoid a serious flu illness?

It's still not too late to get a vaccine. And although the vaccines are not perfect—they don't completely prevent flu—there is ample evidence to show that they can reduce the severity of what flu does.

Cedars-Sinai Stories and Insights: When to Go to the ER for the Flu

Cedars-Sinai experts are available to discuss the health effects of extreme heat on children, adults and older adults. The physicians can cover topics such as when to seek medical care, how heat exhaustion could turn into heatstroke and how unsafe air—due to a heightened risk of wildfires—affects long-term health. 

Experts include:  

• Irina Dralyuk, MD, a pediatric pulmonologist at Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s
• Sonja Rosen, MD, chief of Geriatric Medicine at Cedars-Sinai
• Sam Torbati, MD, co-chair and medical director of the Cedars-Sinai Emergency Department 

To arrange interviews with Cedars-Sinai experts, contact Kelsie Sandoval | 562-631-1169 | kelsie.sandoval@cshs.org.

The contribution names The Todd M. Morgan Family Lobby, the area where Emergency Department patients await treatment. The department’s ongoing expansion project is part of the medical center’s longstanding commitment to enhancing capacity, access and efficiency to best serve patients and the community.

“My entire family and I understand the escalating need for adequate resources to meet demand in the Emergency Department,” said Todd Morgan, a founding member of investment firm Bel Air Investment Advisors LLC, and a lifetime member of Cedars-Sinai’s Board of Trustees. “We want to aid in that effort and hope that this gift speaks to our dedication to doing our part for the Cedars-Sinai community.”

Sam Torbati, MD, co-chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine, and the Levin/Gordon Chair in Emergency Medicine in honor of Joel M. Geiderman, MD, said the gift comes at a pivotal time.

“The Morgan family’s vision and responsiveness to the needs of our Los Angeles communities is unwavering,” said Torbati. “They have an acute awareness of the provisions required for those depending on our ED for timely, compassionate and lifesaving care.”

Phases of the Emergency Department expansion project, scheduled to be completed in late 2026, include adding 16,550 square feet and constructing 40 additional care rooms. New features also will include a critical care suite with six state-of-the-art rooms equipped to provide care for critically ill patients, a dedicated room specially designed to treat critically ill children, and a behavioral care unit to treat patients with mental health needs.

“When people walk through the Emergency Department doors, The Todd M. Morgan Family Lobby is their first stop before seeing a physician for critical care,” said Arthur J. Ochoa, JD, senior vice president of Advancement and chief advancement officer for Cedars-Sinai. “The Morgan family’s incredible gift helps ensure that patients will be as comfortable as possible as they await much-needed care. They will certainly feel the impact and influence of the Morgans’ selfless contribution.”

Read More on the Cedars-Sinai Blog: Behind the Scenes: Cedars-Sinai Emergency Room

Throughout the conference, Cedars-Sinai emergency physicians will be available for interviews about a variety of topics, including whether some groups of people experience longer wait times for emergency care and how a new definition of diagnostic excellence for emergency medicine will improve the quality of emergency care for patients.

“ACEP’s scientific assembly is the largest annual conference in emergency medicine, and it is a fantastic venue where renowned leaders in our field present high quality research that leads to practice changes and improved outcomes for patients,” said Sam Torbati, MD, co-chair of the Cedars-Sinai Emergency Medicine Department. “It is a great source of pride for the department to share research on various important topics, including disparities in care, diagnostic excellence, observation medicine, and innovations in informatics.”

Research being presented includes:

• Emergency physician Kaytlena Stillman, MD, MPH, MSHS, will discuss “Socio-Demographic Disparities in Emergency Department Wait Times” in Research Forum Exhibit Hall, Room 4 on Sept. 30 at 1 p.m.

Posters include: 

• “Defining Diagnostic Excellence for the Emergency Department Setting: Results From a Literature Review and Expert Panel Discussion” by emergency physician and Assistant Professor Carl Berdahl, MD, MS. This poster will be presented in Research Forum Exhibit Hall, Poster Session on Sept. 30 at 8 a.m. 
• “Review of the Value of Emergency Department-Run Observation Units” by emergency physician and clinical informatics expert Sri Harsha Palakurty, MD.
• “Enhancing DMV Reporting of Loss of Consciousness Events Through a Clinical Decision Support Alert in the Epic EMR System” by emergency physician and clinical informatics expert Sri Harsha Palakurty, MD.

To arrange an interview, please contact:

Soshea Leibler | 213-215-8000 | soshea.leibler@cshs.org

Sally Stewart | 310-729-4369 | sally.stewart@cshs.org

The Walter and Shirley Wang Treatment Area East will feature private rooms with specialized equipment to help patients with medical emergencies ranging from infectious illnesses, gynecological concerns and ophthalmologic disorders to ear, nose and throat-related traumas.

“This treatment area provides the resources and accommodations to care for a significant group of patients in the Emergency Department,” said Sam Torbati, MD, co-chair and medical director of the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Levin/Gordon Chair in Emergency Medicine in honor of Joel M. Geiderman, MD. “That significantly widens the breadth of care we’re able to provide in one of the most critical patient areas. We are so grateful to the Wangs for their generosity.”

The Wangs have supported numerous Cedars-Sinai programs, including COVID-19 initiatives, such as providing face shields that were a critical need at the dawn of the pandemic. They also established the Walter and Shirley Wang Chair in Pediatric Surgery, held by Andrew Freedman, MD. The couple began their longstanding partnership with Cedars-Sinai through a friendship with former Wang chairholder Steve Chen, MD, a pediatric surgeon in the Department of General Surgery.

The Wangs were the guests of honor at a luncheon hosted by Cedars-Sinai to recognize their generous contribution to the Emergency Department. “It’s a genuine honor for Walter and me to contribute to this cause, ensuring that the Emergency Department has the resources necessary to deliver the outstanding and leading-edge healthcare that Cedars-Sinai is known for—at any hour of the day or night,” said Shirley Wang.

Globally, the Wang family is recognized for supporting public health, educational and environmental causes—and the family’s commitment to healthcare is generational. Mr. Wang’s father, Yung-Ching Wang, founded the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital system, one of the largest and most technologically advanced health networks in Taiwan. The Wangs’ commitment to worldwide philanthropic causes is aligned with Cedars-Sinai’s mission to advance medicine and healthcare around the world.

“Cedars-Sinai’s relationship with the Wangs began 21 years ago, and since that time, so much important work has been done in Shirley’s and Walter’s names,” said Arthur J. Ochoa, JD, senior vice president of Advancement and chief advancement officer at Cedars-Sinai. “It’s a beautiful reflection of who they are—a loving and visionary couple who really devote their lives to the wellbeing of others.”

Thomas M. Priselac, president and CEO of Cedars-Sinai, and the Warschaw Law Chair in Healthcare Leadership, said of the Wangs, “The difference you are making around the world—here in America, in Taiwan and across Africa—is an inspiration to so many of us. Cedars-Sinai has many priorities, but none more important than the Emergency Department. The essence of Cedars-Sinai is represented by the Emergency Department, and the Wang family has never wavered from their conviction to contribute to this health system and the many communities it serves.”

Read More on the Cedars-Sinai Blog: Behind the Scenes: Cedars-Sinai Emergency Room

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has embarked on a three-year Emergency Department expansion project that will enhance access and efficiency as well as enable more specialty healthcare. 

When the project is complete, it will add 16,550 square feet to the department and increase the number of care spaces from 60 to 100. 

“Unlike hospitals that are either closing or reducing their services, Cedars-Sinai is living up to its promise of meeting the community’s needs by expanding our emergency medical services,” said Sam Torbati, MD, associate professor and co-chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine and medical director of Emergency Medicine. 

“We’re not just expanding the physical space. We’re also implementing innovative care models that will allow us to serve patients efficiently, provide high-quality care and reduce wait times,” said Torbati, the Levin/Gordon Chair in Emergency Medicine in Honor of Joel M. Geiderman, MD.

Purposeful Repurposing

The first step in the expansion project is underway. The current patient drop-off section is being converted into an indoor-outdoor patient waiting/triage area that will be roofed, open on one side and equipped with air conditioning and heating. The space also will feature groupings of comfortable chairs and greenery-filled planters. The new patient drop-off area will be on Gracie Allen Drive in front of the North Tower entrance. Valet parking will be available.

“This first component of the project should be completed in a few weeks. It not only will immediately provide additional space to accommodate arriving patients and reduce crowding, but it will be a very inviting, spacious environment,” said Zeke Triana, vice president of Facilities Planning, Design, and Construction.

The new space will address a frequent complaint.

“In a time when we are still navigating communicable diseases such as COVID-19, flu and RSV, patients often voice their concerns about sitting too close to others. The physical distancing that was practiced during the pandemic is now preferred by many people, and I think this indoor-outdoor space will help them feel more comfortable and protected,” said Claude Stang, RN, executive director of the Emergency Department.

New Space—New Flows

Patients entering the new waiting area will be quickly assessed by a nurse. Patients experiencing serious medical situations will be immediately moved to a treatment room.

“The addition of the indoor-outdoor space frees up room in the main waiting area to implement more efficient workflows,” Stang said. “For example, we’ll have a phlebotomist on hand to draw blood for lab work, and we’ll be able to run EKGs before patients are even given a bed." 

Further efficiencies will result from the addition of what’s called a physician in triage who is paired with a nurse. The department already has one such team and will now have space to add a second. These triage teams will see patients with less serious issues who can be promptly diagnosed, treated and safely sent home, helping to significantly reduce wait times.

“Our patients want to come here, and we want to be there for them,” Torbati said. 

Expansion Enables Specialized Care

When the expansion is completed, new features will include:

• Critical Care Suite—Six state-of-the-art rooms designed and equipped to provide care for acutely ill adults and one room created to meet the needs of acutely ill pediatric patients
• Behavioral Health—Several beds designated for patients requiring mental health services

Torbati said the expansion will benefit staff members as well as patients.

“They’re such a dedicated, hardworking group who take care of a high volume of often complex patients," Torbati said. "The expansion will provide more resources, more space and more efficient models of care." 

Read More on the Cedars-Sinai Blog: A Little TLC Goes a Long Way to Help Older Patients 

The Cedars-Sinai Newsroom spoke to Sam Torbati, MD, medical director of the Cedars-Sinai Emergency Department, and to Stephanie Byrne, MD, a Cedars-Sinai pediatrician, about the dangers of excessive heat.

What are the symptoms of heatstroke? 

Sam Torbati, MD:   Patients with heatstroke, by definition, are those who have a high temperature. When we measure their core temperature, it's above 104 degrees Fahrenheit. They have a high fever, and with that high fever, there's confusion, there’s disorientation. They can be comatose; they can have seizures. Their heart rates can be very high, and their blood pressures can be very low, and they need immediate medical attention. 

How do you treat heatstroke?

Sam Torbati, MD:   We initiate medical resuscitation for those patients right away. We start intravenous fluids and we  start to cool them. And if patients are having difficulty with breathing and such, we may need to engage with more advanced interventions as well.  

What is heat exhaustion and how is it different from heatstroke?  

Stephanie Byrne, MD:  Heat exhaustion can be a precursor to heatstroke and needs to be treated before it becomes more serious. With heat exhaustion, patients may have an elevated temperature, usually between 100 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit. The patient might have cool, clammy skin, despite being hot. They may feel faint, dizzy or weak. There may be headaches, increased thirst, muscle cramps, nausea and/or vomiting.

How do you treat heat exhaustion, particularly in children? 

Stephanie Byrne, MD:  It’s important for parents to recognize the symptoms, and if they see their child experiencing heat exhaustion, they should bring their child indoors, particularly if it's during the hot part of the day from noon to 6 p.m. If going indoors is not an option, at the very least, bring the child into the shade. A parent should begin rapid cooling of their child by either pouring cold water on their body and/or giving them cold water to drink. They should also remove excess clothing to help the body cool down.  

How do you prevent adverse reactions to heat? 

Sam Torbati, MD:  The best precaution is avoiding exposure to excessive heat, staying indoors and having access to air-conditioned environments. For patients who are frail and are older, it's really important for family and neighbors and friends to check in on them periodically. It is also important to monitor the environment of patients who do not have air conditioning, and make sure they have fans that can keep the indoor temperature down, or that they can access cooling centers. 

Stephanie Byrne, MD:  For children, try to keep them indoors during the hottest parts of the day. Make sure they drink lots of water, take rest breaks and wear light-colored, loose-fitting clothing.

Read more on the Cedars-Sinai Blog: Common Medical Conditions Aggravated by Sun and Heat