We seek the right care at the right time for your patient through transfer or telemedicine options. When you call us at 503-494-7000 or 800-648-6478, you’ll get access to almost every specialty service at Oregon’s only public academic medical center.

The OHSU Health Patient Transfer Center works with health care teams that have patients in inpatient or emergency care. If you are a patient or family member interested in transfer, it’s best to speak with your doctor.

Patient transfers

We are the single point of contact for transfer requests:

• Between emergency departments
• For interhospital transfer of adult or pediatric, ICU, medical/surgical or pregnancy care
• For acute stroke and heart attack (ST-elevation myocardial infarction) care
• For mutual patients.  A mutual patient is currently receiving care at OHSU related to their current problem.

If your patient is accepted for transfer, they may go to any of our OHSU Health locations:

• Our main OHSU campus in Portland
• OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland
• OHSU Health Hillsboro Medical Center
• OHSU Adventist Health Portland

We will let you know which one in advance.

Telemedicine

We arrange telemedicine consultations for:

• Neurology/stroke
• Pediatric intensive care
• Neonatal intensive care

Learn about our TelePICU, TeleNICU and TeleStroke network.

Level 1 Trauma Center

We coordinate trauma system entry and distribution between Portland’s two Level 1 Trauma Centers. Learn about OHSU’s Trauma Center.

ECMO and PANDA

We oversee dispatch for adult ECMO care and pediatric and neonatal transport (PANDA) in collaboration with LifeFlight.

What to expect

When you call, you’ll speak with an emergency transport coordinator about your patient’s needs. The coordinator will check whether a partner hospital can meet your patient’s needs.

If so, you’ll be connected with an on-call physician at our partner.

If not, you’ll be connected with an on-call OHSU specialist. Other specialists will join the call if needed.

If your patient is approved for transfer, we will:

• Alert you when a bed is available
• Arrange a nurse handoff and if needed, a physician handoff
• If needed, help coordinate transportation

Transfer wait times depend on bed capacity and patient needs. Some patients are transferred immediately. Others may go on a wait list for several days.

Patients are placed on the wait list based on their needs. We will check in with your team daily. You can contact us if your patient’s needs change while waiting.

After your patient transfers to OHSU or a partner hospital, you can get real-time, secure updates on their care through EpicCare Link.

Why we may decline transfer requests

We may decline a transfer request or a request to add a patient to our wait list because:

• Your patient can safely get care in their home community with input from our specialist and possible follow-up at an OHSU clinic.
• We are at capacity with a declared emergency.
• The expected wait time is too long for your patient’s needs and the needed care may be available closer to their home.
• OHSU serves the state of Oregon and needs to maintain access to quaternary inpatient care.

We view every call to our transfer center as important. We are not able to accept every transfer request due to capacity considerations.

Oregon Medical Coordination Center

If you can’t find a bed for your patient in your region or through usual referral pathways, the Oregon Medical Coordination Center can help. Call 24 hours a day: 833-449-OMCC (6622).

Oregon Behavioral Health Coordination Center

If you can’t find acute or residential behavioral health services for your patient in your region or through usual referral pathways, the Oregon Behavioral Health Coordination Center can help. Call between 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. weekdays: 844-440-6222.