BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine physicians and advanced practice providers deliver patient-centered care across UW Health, the integrated academic health system affiliated with the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. With strong access to primary care throughout the Madison area, our emergency departments care for a high-acuity, medically complex patient population across the full spectrum of illness and injury.
We put patients and families at the center of every decision, addressing both medical and emotional needs. Our physicians and advanced practice providers work alongside skilled nurses, technicians, social workers, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, case managers, and care coordinators committed to delivering high-quality emergency care.
We continually work to improve care through dedicated quality improvement programs, including a robust peer review process and monthly morbidity and mortality conferences. We are also expanding telehealth capabilities to support patient care and clinical practice.
Our clinical sites & services
University Hospital in Madison is a Magnet®-designated academic medical center, ranked the No. 1 hospital in Wisconsin and recognized nationally for clinical care, teaching, and specialty referrals.
The 505-bed hospital is a Level I adult and pediatric trauma center and an American College of Surgeons-verified Burn Center. It is also home to one of the nation’s largest organ transplant programs, one of the first certified comprehensive stroke centers and Wisconsin’s only comprehensive cancer center. University Hospital was also among the first hospitals nationwide verified through the American College of Surgeons Emergency General Surgery Verification Program, launched in 2022.
The 41,000-square-foot emergency department cares for approximately 70,000 adult and pediatric patients each year, with a high-acuity patient population reflected in a 27.4% admission rate. The ED includes 58 beds, including 10 pediatric rooms, three multipurpose procedure rooms, a four-bed flexible care area, and two CareSTART rooms for physician-led intake and rapid assessment. Pharmacists and social workers are available in the department 24/7.
Our critical care faculty also staff University Hospital’s 18-bed intensive care unit, equipped for multimodality monitoring and eICU capabilities. University Hospital holds ELSO Center of Excellence Gold designation for ECMO and is one of a select number of U.S. academic centers recognized by the Infectious Diseases Society of America as a Center of Excellence for Antimicrobial Stewardship.
Learn more about University Hospital.
UW Health’s East Madison Hospital is one of the most advanced wellness centers in the country with full medical/surgical inpatient services. This 56-bed community hospital sees health care as a holistic endeavor with a mission to not only diagnose and treat patients when they’re sick, but also to partner with them in health and wellness. East Madison Hospital is a Level IV Trauma Center and certified Acute Stroke Ready Hospital by The Joint Commission, indicating its high level of stroke readiness and response.
The emergency department cares for a diverse group of patients in this community setting where services and specialties available continue to expand. The 20-bed emergency department cares for approximately 32,500 adult and pediatric patients annually, with the flexibility to expand to 32 beds during census surges. With rapidly increasing patient volumes, both our staffing paradigm and physical footprint continue to grow, with new full-time patient rooms planned to open in 2026.
The Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine delivers compassionate, high-quality, evidence-based emergency care to children from throughout the region and across the state. Clinical care is primarily delivered at our 11-bed dedicated pediatric emergency department at the American Family Children’s Hospital—a nationally -ranked, 111-bed facility with pediatric and neonatal surgical intensive care units that have served the special needs of children for more than 100 years. It is a busy Level I trauma center, one of two in the state, and the only Level 1 burn center in Wisconsin.
The pediatric ED cares for approximately 17,000 pediatric patients annually—many with high acuity—and is staffed by a knowledgeable, growing group of fellowship-trained pediatric emergency medicine faculty working closely with trainees from pediatric and emergency medicine residencies, as well as medical students at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Pediatric patients treated here account for 22% of total patients seen at the UH ED annually, and pediatric patients requiring hospitalization are admitted directly to the American Family Children’s Hospital.
A dedicated team of specialized pediatric nurses and respiratory therapists also staff pediatric ED alongside 24/7 child life, pharmacy and social work services, with the department having a strong, collaborative relationship with pediatric/neonatal critical care transport teams. View our pediatric emergency medicine providers.
As one of the nation’s distinguished five-star Veterans Health Administration medical centers, the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital is 119-bed acute care facility provides tertiary care to 89,000 veterans across 19 counties in Wisconsin & Illinois and includes one of the few heart, lung, kidney, and liver transplant and LVAD programs within the VHA.
The Madison VHA hospital is physically contiguous with University Hospital and houses an 11-bed emergency department that provides care to 13,500 adult patients annually and is accredited as a Level 2 Geriatric Emergency Department by the American College of Emergency Physicians. Our faculty physicians provide 12 hours of attending physician coverage daily, and we partner with emergency medicine pharmacists, Women’s Health, Mental Health, critical care and palliative care services to provide comprehensive emergency care for veterans.
A busy Level III trauma center that is part of the Beloit Health System, this 111-bed community hospital and 26-bed ED is located 45 miles south of Madison on the Wisconsin/Illinois border. The ED cares for approximately 36,000 patients annually. This hospital hosts our residents during their PGY-2 and PGY-3 years and provides a clinical home for a number of our fellows to grow as independent providers.
UW Health Med Flight is a premier air and ground critical care transport and retrieval service that has served the upper Midwest for nearly 40 years and logs more than 2,200 transports per year. Our program is CAMTS-certified and has long been recognized in air medical circles for its success in providing one of the safest air medical transport services in the country.
We partner with leading FAA-certified and industry-accredited Metro Aviation, Inc. to maintain, operate and pilot all aircraft, and we are one of only a few programs in the country to transport with a licensed physician routinely on board. Our ground ambulances transport patients of any age and are equipped as mobile ICU/NICU, and we also operate a busy air and ground Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) Transport Program.
Learn more about UW Health Med Flight.