The Duke Transfer Center facilitates and streamlines the patient referral process for the transfer of inpatients from outlying facilities into the Duke University Health System.

All referrals require a physician-to-physician consult to discuss patient condition prior to acceptance.

The Transfer Center is staffed by highly qualified registered nurses who triage requests made by physicians wishing to transfer a patient to Duke.

The goals of the Transfer Center are to:

• Provide an easier mechanism to access the health system
• Establish a designated contact point for our referring physicians
• Provide accurate clinical information necessary to assist our Duke faculty in accepting patients into the health system
• Coordinate with bed control to maintain minute-by-minute bed availability
• Provide the crucial link of information to the receiving units at Duke, as well as our transport staff if we are requested to assist in moving the patient to Duke

The Transfer Center is currently responsible for assisting with interfacility transfers of the following patients:

• Adult patients to all service lines except cardiology, OB, and psychiatry at Duke
• Pediatric patients to all service lines except bone marrow transplant
• Adult patients to the MICU and general medicine at Durham Regional Hospital

The Transfer Center conferences the requesting MD with an attending physician in the appropriate service line at Duke to discuss patient condition and acceptance. Transfers are screened for medical necessity.

Making a Transfer Request

Information needed at the time of the request is:

• Requestor name; contact number for MD and facility
• Referring MD/facility name
• Diagnosis of patient
• Date of birth
• Level of care needed (for example, floor, ICU)
• Service line being requested (GSU, medicine, pediatrics, etc.)

For calls regarding adult cardiology patients, contact 919-681-2990, Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

For calls regarding TSU patients, contact 919-681-4645, Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. After hours, these calls are handled through the Transfer Center.

If you would like to consult with a Duke physician regarding an outpatient, please call the Duke Referral Center at 888-ASK-DUKE (888-275-3853).

For further questions or concerns, contact Marie Hale, RN, clinical operations director for the Transfer Center and Bed Control, at 919-681-2219. She can also be paged at 919-970-3989.

Contact Information

Duke University Hospital
2301 Erwin Rd., Room 0653
Durham, NC 27710

919-681-3440 (local)
800-524-5433 (toll-free)
919-681-3950 (fax)