Samaritan Emergency Department Expansion and Renovation

Over the next few years, Samaritan Regional Health System (SRHS) is planning several major construction projects. The first one set to begin is an expansion and renovation of the Emergency Department (ED) at Samaritan Hospital.

Our Samaritan ED currently serves over 27,000 patients annually. That equates to be nearly 75 per day, 365 days a year! Over the next few years, that number is expected to increase to over 30,000 per year. 

“In 2001, when the ED Expansion and Tower project was started, SRHS made a promise to our stakeholders to complete a new ED as “Phase II” of that project,” said Danny L. Boggs, president and CEO of SRHS. “This planning is now complete and our Samaritan Board of Directors has approved moving forward with this wonderful new addition.” 

This project will include the addition of 16,239 square feet of new space to our Hospital, as well as 22,802 square feet of renovated space. This totals 39,041 square feet. Departments that will be affected include the ED, Health Information Management (HIM), Radiology, Quality Assurance, and Maintenance.

The total project cost, including the installation of a second CAT scanner, will cost approximately $8.5 million dollars. Simonson Construction was the winning contractor. Completion of the project is expected to be around August of 2008.

 “The main focus of our renovation and expansion is to allow for more efficient and comfortable patient care,” said Barbara Workman, director of the emergency department at Samaritan Hospital. “We put in place a process where a combination of many departments were surveyed and interviewed to collect input about what was needed in our ED to allow us to continue the best possible patient care and improve work flow for staff as well.”

The renovation will allow Samaritan to upgrade all emergency treatment rooms to private rooms and many rooms will have televisions. The new arrangement will allow for utilization of all rooms in one location. “The project streamlines all our patient care processes and eases physician relations with patients and family members to discuss situations in private,” Workman continued.

The completed project will also feature a second CT scanner that is situated inside the emergency department to expedite patient testing without interrupting the outpatient scanning schedule. In addition, there will also be a room dedicated to the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program, which treats sexual assault and GYN patients who need forensic evidence collected in a private and confidential manner.

 Construction in the ED will include the addition of an Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) room, for patients struggling with those types of ailments and an infection control room, for patients who have contagious diseases and need to be kept away from other patients being seen for different issues.

A new bereavement room, that will overlook and inspirational garden will be available for family members of the deceased. The concept is designed to provide comfort in their time of mourning. Adjacent to the bereavement room will be a private area for family members to spend time with their loved ones.

A new emergency department entrance will be created and face Hillcrest Drive. Changes to the Emergency department will include a new triage area to allow for more efficient assessment of patients based on their illness or injury, expanded more private trauma rooms, and renovation of the emergency squad bay to accommodate additional squad vehicles. Other renovations include a small play area for children to help them pass the wait time.

“We want to make the patient’s stay as short as possible, while also meeting all their expectations,” Workman said. “Of course some people depending on their severity sometimes must stay longer for proper treatment, but overall this project should make our ED much more efficient and patient friendly.