Emergency Care

Aizawa Hospital is designated as an emergency care hospital of the Matsumoto region.

Emergency and Critical Care Center at Aizawa Hospital offers prompt and precise examinations, diagnostic services, and treatments to all patients, including tourists from overseas, seeking medical attention. Care is provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, serving more than 45,000 patients a year.

  • We prioritize patients with emergent, urgent, or immediate needs based on an evidence-based triage process.
  • Patients are assessed and receive needed care by an emergency physician as quickly as possible.
  • Specialist physicians begin treatment to meet the patients’ needs, when needed.

Diseases or injuries we treat

We have resources and systems established to provide care to patients with urgent medical conditions ranging from complex problems to simple but pressing conditions. However we may have to transfer patients with the following problems to neighboring special hospitals.
We will provide stabilizing treatment to these patients prior to transport.

  • Severe burns
  • Psychological disorders
  • Particular infectious diseases
  • Severe pediatric disorders
  • Severe complex injuries

What to expect?

Soon after registration is completed, patients are triaged by a trained nurse, and then an emergency physician assesses and provides care to the patients based on the urgency of their needs. When patients’ condition indicates, they will be treated in cooperation with other specialists who are called upon as needed in areas such as neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, and cardiology. The following processes will be expected when you visit our emergency center.

How long is the waiting time?

The order of consultation by a physician is not the same as the order of registration.
The order of consultation may vary depending on how you come to our emergency center. That is whether you come to our center by yourself (Walk-in) or carried in an ambulance or a helicopter. Usually, patients who are transported by an ambulance or a helicopter are seen by physician prior to those walk-in patients.

In general, patients are triaged and prioritized based on the urgency of their needs. Patients with emergent, urgent, or immediate needs are assessed by a physician before other patients, receive diagnostic services as soon as possible, and begin treatment to meet their needs.

Triage is a process of determining the priority of patients' treatments based on the severity of their condition.

Target time until the start of assessment by a physician
RedWithin 15 minutes
YellowWithin 30 minutes
GreenWithin 60 minutes

Since patients in immediate needs (Red or Yellow) will receive care prior to other patients, patients triaged as green may have to wait for hours when it is crowded. It is important to let the staff know right away if your pain or condition gets worse while you are waiting.

Registration process for walk-in patients

What to Bring

Please bring the following items.

  • One of the identification cards below (If you do not possess Japanese citizenship)

    • Passport: Including your visa and its expiration date
    • Residence Card: If you are residing in Japan for the mid-to long-term
    • Other photo-identification card, such as driver’s license

      If you cannot present any of the above IDs without reasonable excuse, we may have to report you to the police or the Immigration Bureau as a suspected illegal immigrant.

  • Health Insurance Card (If you are insured by the Japanese National Health Insurance Program)

  • Patient Registration Card (If you received any medical services at Aizawa Hospital in the past)
  • A referral letter, medical reports, and other documents that describes your clinical condition(If you are referred to us from another medical facility)
  • Medications (Drugs), their instructions, and a Medication notebook(If you currently take any medications)
  • Cash or a credit card

Upon arrival

  1. Fill out the “Reception Form” with required items such as your name, address and the reason for your visit at the reception counter.
  2. Measure the blood pressure and the body temperature, and write down those values on the “Reception Form”.
  3. If you have a Japanese National Health Insurance Card, submit it with the “Reception Form” to the Receptionist.

Reception procedure is now complete. A nurse will perform triage soon afterwards, so please wait in the waiting area.

Registration process for patients carried in by an ambulance

When patients are carried in by an ambulance or a helicopter, a physician will start assessments immediately after their arrival.
Therefore, receptionists will confirm the information needed for registering the patients.

Billing and payment

You will pay your bill at the reception counter after all the assessments, tests, and treatments are completed.

  1. A receptionist calculates medical expenses
  2. A bill (or invoice) is issued
  3. Payment in cash or a credit card
  4. A receipt and a detailed statement are issued for you.

We accept the following credit cards.

We accept the following credit cards

Medical expenses at Emergency Center

At emergency center, needed examinations, treatments or therapies differ depending on the patient’s condition. Also, the details of required examinations and/or treatments cannot be determined until the physician completes assessment. Therefore, it is difficult to calculate precise medical expenses in advance, as it is clarified after all the examinations, treatments, and therapies are completed.

Here are costs for CT and MRI examination for your reference.

  • Plain CT scan:Approx. 19,000 JPY
  • Plain MRI scan:Approx. 23,000 JPY

When hospitalization is needed

When a physician determines patients need to be hospitalized based on the results of assessments or examinations, the physician explains the necessity of hospitalization.

In principle, the hospital prepares all the items you need during hospitalization (gown, towel, toiletries, etc.) or otherwise, they can be purchased at the in-hospital store.

In case of an emergency,
contact Emergency and Critical Care Center
0263-36-9999In Japanese only