Providence Holy Cross Medical Center’s emergency department was named by physician group CEP America as the best among its membership, the Mission Hills-based hospital announced. The group, which provides emergency department management and staffing services, ranked hospitals based on treatment of serious medical conditions, patient satisfaction survey results and the wait time for seeing a physician. Providence Holy Cross’ emergency department, which receives more than 70,000 patients a year, has an average wait time of 17 minutes. “We achieved this as a team,” said Jason Fisher, medical director of the hospital’s emergency department. “The physician care is just part of the puzzle. We have the best quality nurses; they’re unparalleled to any place I’ve worked. And our EMTs and physician assistants are great.” Representatives from the hospital received the award last week in Palm Desert at CEP’s annual conference. Providence Holy Cross’ emergency department is a designated trauma center and has been approved by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services as a certified stroke center. It is also designated as a STEMI receiving center, which means patients suffering the most severe type of heart attack are taken directly to that hospital. The growing number of emergency patients at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center has led to the hospital’s $180 million, 138-bed expansion, which is due for completion in December. Jessica Vernabe