Gordon Hospital is pleased to announce that they have broken ground on a new 17,500 square foot, $9 million expansion that will house a new Emergency Center. The new Center is set to open in late spring/early summer 2008.
“Today is a wonderful day,” said Gordon Hospital President and CEO Carlene Jamerson. “We are taking another step toward continuing to fulfill our mission by building a larger, more patient friendly, designed Emergency Center. It is exciting, and it’s a day that we’ve been planning for more than two years.”
Last year alone, the Emergency Center at Gordon Hospital saw more than 25,200 patients come through their doors. “With the volume that we are now experiencing it become apparent, that we were quickly approaching maximum capacity of our current space,” says Jamerson. “We knew we needed a better solution and are proud of the final plans for the space.”
Rick Wright, senior vice president and administrator over the project is excited about the prospect for the new space as well. “We view the Emergency Center as Gordon Hospital’s front door, and we want patients to come through this door knowing that exceptional health care is inside. We feel this expansion only enhances our mission to provide that exceptional care.”
Included in the expansion will be the addition of 20 new patient rooms, which will nearly double in size from the current rooms. The increased size of the room allows for more space for patients, families, staff and medical equipment. In addition, several rooms will be set aside for specific purposes. One room will be designated for trauma patients, a second for critical care and a third as a negative pressure room (which is designed for patients with contagious conditions such as chicken pox).
The changes to the outside aren’t the only ones taking place. Once the new space is complete, the Emergency Center will begin a new FastTrack program. The program is designed to care for those with health concerns that don’t require immediate attention. For example, if a patient is experiencing a severe cold, earache, or sore throat and doesn’t feel like he or she can wait to see his or her primary care physician, this service is available to care for these needs efficiently and reduce wait times in the Emergency Center. A physician or mid-level provider can often treat FastTrack program patients while waiting for imaging or blood test results for other patients.
Although there will be lots of new features to the Emergency Center there are a few things that will remain the same. “Currently, we base patient priority on the triage system,” says Kim Smith, director of the Emergency Center. “That will not change once we are in the new space.” During triage, once you enter the Emergency Center a nurse records your vital information and then assesses your condition and prioritizes patient care based on the fact that the most acute conditions are seen first.
The other aspect of our delivery of care that will not change is bedside registration. Because most of a patient’s information was obtained during triage, bedside registration is often as simple as answering a few questions about insurance coverage and co-pays.
“This expansion is essential to our growth,” says Jamerson. “As our community grows, it is vital that we grow with it. Once completed, we will be able to expand our services to better meet the needs of our local residents.”
This construction, unlike some of our construction projects in the past, is being done with little disruption to our patients. “We’ve had to move our rehabilitation services entrance while we build, but patients visiting the Emergency Center will see little or no changes until the space is complete,” says Jamerson. “The reason is that the space is a new addition to the back of the building rather than expanding space that we are currently in.”
With a total price tag of $9 million, the Gordon Hospital Foundation has embarked on a capital campaign to raise $300,000 of the project costs.
“This is a much needed addition to the hospital and it is crucial for the overall health care of our community,” says Judy Jackson, director of Development Services at Gordon Hospital. “This is an area of the hospital that we can’t afford not to support,” says Jackson. “It is imperative to all of our health that our Emergency Center be as up-to-date as possible. It’s one of those things that you hope that you or your family will never have to use, but if you do, you want it to be state-of-the-art.”
Jamerson agrees. “As our community’s healthcare needs change, it is imperative that our health care services also expand to meet those needs. Giving to this project is a wonderful, lasting way to ensure that you and your family have needed services when you need them most.”