Wyoming Hospital Unveils New Emergency Department
CHEYENNE -- The additional space and resources of Cheyenne Regional Medical Center's new emergency department will help reduce waiting times for patients, hospital leaders said Monday.
The new emergency department is twice as large as the current one. Its 39,000 square feet houses new state-of-the-art equipment.
The facility has more than 40 private exam and treatment rooms. Its color plan of soft earth tones complements the tranquil artwork that hangs throughout the department.
CRMC's emergency department treated nearly 40,000 patients in 2012.
The $25 million facility is paid for with bond sales, said CRMC spokeswoman Kathy Baker. No money comes from patient rates.
CRMC employees, hospital board members and the media toured the building Monday.
A free open house for the community is planned from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday.
The facility will open for patients Oct. 28.
Tracy Garcia is CRMC's clinical director of trauma and emergency services. The project's goal is "to provide high-quality care to the community utilizing the state-of-the art equipment and the space that we have available now," she said. "We want to minimize the wait times."
An additional 12 employees have been or will be hired because of the new department, she said. She estimates that two-thirds of them are nurses, and the rest are emergency medical technicians.
The new rooms are "spacious, state-of-the-art and amazing," said Dr. Richard Fermelia, CRMC trauma surgeon and medical director of trauma services.
"For those of us who do clinical work in the ER, it's like Christmas morning. We finally get to open this amazing present," he said. "A lot of us are met with a renewed sense of enthusiasm for what we do and are pretty psyched about working here and making things not only physically better but clinically better."
Added space and equipment increases the hospital's capacity to handle disasters, he added.
Susan Wilson, CRMC's trauma program manager, said the new department will mean even better care for trauma, stroke and heart attack patients.
The department is divided into separate pods for patient needs.
There are pods for acute care, critical care, mental health and clinical-decision making. Each pod, or unit, has private exam rooms, utility rooms, restrooms, nurses' stations and secure medication rooms.
The new emergency department includes:
- An eight-room clinical decision unit. Patients will be sent here for further observation, such as to monitor chest pains.
- A four-bed mental health pod.
- A 12-room acute care unit.
- A critical care pod with four bays for adult traumas, one bay for pediatric traumas and seven additional rooms.
- A private room for discharging patients.
- An eye exam room with equipment.
- Three family rooms for private space.
- A multipurpose room that could be used to treat mass casualties.
- A decontamination shower area.
- Enclosed ambulance bays.
- An isolation room.
- A separate room for patients who are victims of sexual assault or abuse.
- An eight-room Fast Track area. Patients here are those who need treatment for sprains, sore throats and other nonlife-threatening injuries.
Once treated, they will move to a "results-pending" area to wait for test results. The area has nine bays.
The new department is a cheery place whose atmosphere can help reduce patient anxiety, said Dr. Jean Halpern, a hospital board member.
"We're all excited," he said.
Copyright 2013 - Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Cheyenne
