ANYTOWN – With shovels in hand, Medical Community Hospital administrators, doctors and staff broke ground to expand the hospital’s emergency room with a new, 8000-square-foot facility.

The new building, to be added onto the west side of the existing emergency room, will double the current emergency facility space and expand patient areas from 17 curtained cubicles to 25 private rooms. The new rooms will have walls and doors, thus eliminating the need for curtains.

"This new facility will mean improved access to care for the more than 31,000 patients who come to our emergency department for treatment," said Medical Community Hospital’s Chief Operating Officer Bob Jones at the groundbreaking ceremony. "Patients and their families will now spend less time waiting for care and more time in the hands of highly trained professionals who deliver that care."

Once completed, the new facility will enhance patient treatment space with increased privacy for patients and their families. It will also offer improved operating efficiency and customer service, and improved access for ambulance and transport vehicles. Interior renovations will be made to the existing emergency department, and upgraded cardiac monitoring equipment will be added.

"Over the past four years, we have seen a ten percent increase in the number of patients visiting our emergency department," adds Jones. "Our current emergency room was built almost 20 years ago, and the demand for care often times exceeds the physical space available to deliver that care. By doubling the size and adding eight more treatment rooms, we will be able to better accommodate all those in need of care."

Other improvements will include expanding and separating urgent care areas from less urgent care areas, adding new registration and waiting areas, including televisions in patient care areas, and expanding the resuscitation area.

The expansion got underway when the hospital received plan approval from the State Department of Health, Division of Safety Inspection, and the County Planning Commission last December. The borough approved a building permit the following month. The project’s completion is expected by next winter.