Frankfort Regional Medical Center officials broke ground today on a project that will significantly expand and improve its emergency department (ED). Following the $8.4 million project, the new ED will cover 19,500 sq. ft. area and include 28 private rooms with bedside registration and a new 64 slice CT scanner. Construction is scheduled to be completed by mid 2013.
“Renovating our emergency department will benefit everyone involved in the care process – patients, physicians, EMS personnel and hospital staff,” said Chip Peal, the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer. “The renovations will improve the flow of patients and enable us to serve the growing number of patients who are turning to us for emergency services.” The hospital currently has over 33,000 ED visits a year.
The new emergency department will feature 28 beds, an increase from 18, including a Trauma Room. All rooms will feature bedside registration, TV and door closure for privacy. The new ED will also feature one of the world’s fastest CT scanners, a non-invasive imaging system that captures whole organs in a second, the heart in five beats, and goes head-to-toe in fewer than 10 seconds. A key feature to the Emergency Department will be the creation of a Fast Track area, allowing for patients to be triaged for non-urgent symptoms (minor cuts and bruises, pain, etc.) and treated more efficiently.
“The new emergency department will allow us to more quickly treat our patients with the latest technology in a more comfortable setting,” said Gina Wilkins, MD, Medical Director for the Emergency Department.
Construction will be completed over approximately 15 months in three separate phases, in order to minimize disruption of patients seeking emergency care from the hospital’s existing emergency department.
One of the hospital’s goals regarding emergency care is also the transparency of information regarding wait times. Even at the start of the renovation, Frankfort Regional’s ED will feature a monitor in the waiting area displaying average wait times. Wait times are tracked using a statistical tracker system in the ED which transfers data to an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed. This feed automatically displays and updates the time on the monitor and hospital’s website (www.frankfortregional.com). Cell-phone users can also text “ER” to 23000 to receive a text back with the most up-to-date wait time after entering their zip code. In 2010, Frankfort Regional Medical Center became the first hospital in the Commonwealth of Kentucky to offer this program.
Note: Wait times reflect a rolling four-hour average and are updated every 30 minutes. The term is defined as the time between entering the ED and beginning the medical screening examination from a qualified medical professional – either a physician, a physician assistant or a nurse practitioner. Patients are seen in priority order based on the type and severity of their medical complaint.