Pictured: An artist's rendering illustrates the entrance to the new Gettysburg Hospital Emergency Department.Source: Wellspan - "Around WellSpan, 9/20/2010"
New facility will feature 18 private treatment rooms plus patient amenities
Gettysburg Hospital (located in historic Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) will begin construction this month on a new emergency department that will provide patients with a private, patient-centered care experience and meet community needs well into the future.
The nearly 19,000-square foot addition that will extend from the hospital's current emergency department entrance will cost $18.1 million. The new ED is expected to open in February 2012, with project completion by August 2012.
The new emergency department will feature 18 private treatment rooms (13 stretcher rooms, two crisis rooms, three chair rooms) as well as new patient amenities such as a vending area, café seating, pediatric waiting area and an increase in patient and visitor restrooms.
The hospital's current emergency department, most recently renovated in 1992, cares for nearly 28,000 patients per year.
The facility was originally designed to treat 15,000. Today's patients also tend to have more serious conditions when they arrive for emergency care.
"As our communities continue to grow and age, the number of individuals needing emergency services is only going to increase," said Kevin Mosser, M.D., president of Gettysburg Hospital.
Mosser said the new emergency department will strengthen Gettysburg Hospital's ability to provide care to individuals who are seriously injured or ill as well as those who require treatment for minor conditions.
The project's guiding principle is to create an environment that promotes patient-centered care, patient safety, efficiency and employee satisfaction while meeting the needs of the community now and in the future.
In addition to the improvement to the facility, the hospital's emergency department staff continues to focus on process improvements. Efforts underway are already having a significant impact on improving the patient experience, including the reduction of patient wait times that occur during a typical visit.
"Offering a new emergency facility will be a great achievement for the hospital," said William Steinour, M.D., medical director, Gettysburg Hospital Emergency Department. "Beyond the bricks and mortar and all the amenities, the emergency department staff are working now to improve our processes and patient flow so that our patients notice a difference in the care they experience today as well as on day one of our new facility."
The hospital's existing emergency department will continue to serve patients during the construction project.
Funding for Gettysburg Hospital's new ED will be provided through WellSpan's capital budget. Wilmot Sanz of Gaithersburg, Md., is the project architect and Alexander Building Construction of Harrisburg will manage construction.
Special features of the new emergency department:
Gettysburg Hospital's new emergency department will offer patients a private care experience in a modern facility staffed by skilled physicians and clinical staff. Special features will include:
- Private rooms (13 stretcher rooms, two crisis rooms, three chair rooms)
- Two triage care areas
- Patient treatment areas dedicated exclusively to patients with minor injuries and illnesses
- Two trauma resuscitation rooms
- Two designated bereavement/consult rooms
- Multiple work pods for staff and providers, hospitalists and specialists with touchdown space for nursing supervisor, crisis workers and registration
- Improved staff support facilities, including lounge, locker room and conference meeting space
- Financial counselor presence
- Improved registration and checkout area
- Patient/visitor vending area along with café seating
- Pediatric waiting area
- Increased patient/visitor restrooms
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About Gettysburg Hospital:
147 Gettys Street, PO Box 3786
Gettysburg, PA 17325-0786
(717) 334-2121
Located in historic Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Gettysburg Hospital has been serving the communities of Adams county and northern Maryland for more than 80 years.
Beyond the acute care hospital, it has grown to be a comprehensive health-care provider with family health centers across the region, a very special maternity center, heart center, home health services, preventive health education and screening programs, and 24-hour emergency services. As a WellSpan Health hospital, Gettysburg Hospital and all of its facilities serve the community with the highest quality of care, compassion, and excellence.
www.wellspan.org
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