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# Runners on the Fast Track
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/runners-on-the-fast-track/
- Published: 2004-04-09T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:12:21.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Health, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Daily Press staff*

Thousands of runners will converge on Griffith Park next weekend to help a local hospital get people in and out of the emergency room quicker.

The 23rd Saint John’s Jimmy Stewart Relay Marathon is scheduled for April 18 and funds raised by the event will be used to support medical programs at Saint John’s. This year, one of the programs supported is the emergency department’s Fast Track.

Fast Track, which relieves ER congestion and improves the time in which patients are treated, was introduced by Saint John’s in 2001 and expanded in 2002\. After they have been assessed by a triage nurse, patients presenting less urgent symptoms are directed to Fast Track where they can be treated and discharged in less than an hour without waiting for other more emergent patients to be seen. Fast Track treats as many as 600 patients each month.

“Fast Track has helped relieve the ER and improve patient care and service for everyone,” says Russ Kino, M.D., medical director of the emergency department at Saint John’s Health Center. “Patients in the ER are seen on the basis of the severity of their injury. Without Fast Track, a patient with a minor injury might have to wait while more emergent or acutely ill patients are seen. When the wait is long, it can add to everyone’s level of stress and anxiety. With Fast Track, minor injuries can be seen and treated immediately.”

Patients who are brought to the ER by paramedics do not go to Fast Track, neither do children under 2 years old, or anyone with chest pains or a potentially infectious disease. An ER physician is always available to help the triage nurse make patient assessments, doctors say.

All proceeds from the Saint John’s Jimmy Stewart Relay Marathon support programs and services at Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica. Since its inception in 1982, the marathon has raised more than $8.2 million.

The largest five-person team relay race in the United States, this year’s Jimmy Stewart Relay Marathon will be hosted by actors Robert Wagner and Chris O’Donnell. The race is comprised of over 20 divisions, according to age, gender and corporate/industry affiliation. Each individual will run 5.2 miles before passing the baton for a total of 26 miles.

For more information call (310) 829-8968 or find out more from the Web site, at www.stjohns.org.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 9, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/040904.pdf?ref=smdp.com)