Methodist`s Flagship Hospital in Memphis Spotlights $33 Million ER

Sept. 05--With emergency room use on the rise for the two largest Memphis-based hospital systems, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare on Friday marked the completion of a new $33 million emergency department at Methodist University Hospital.

The two-story expansion near Downtown includes a helipad for medical ambulances on the roof, a garage underneath designed to handle 15 to 20 ambulances at a time and 93,000 square feet of new space, doubling the number of treatment rooms to more than 50, officials said.

Methodist University has seen its emergency visits jump by one-third, to 63,000 in 2013 from 47,000 in 2007, according to Methodist officials. The unexpected closure of Crittenden Regional Hospital in West Memphis is adding to demand. Since last year, both Methodist and Baptist Memorial Health Care hospital systems have reported increased use of emergency rooms.

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare chief executive officer Gary Shorb said that with the new emergency department, the system has invested a total of $120 million in its flagship hospital. The system opened its first hospital at the Union and Bellevue location on Sept. 15, 1924.

"That's as much as we spent on building a new hospital in Olive Branch, so our commitment to this location is real, as is our commitment to the entire community," Shorb said.

Reducing non-urgent use of emergency rooms is one of the goals of health care reforms sweeping the industry. A University of Memphis study found that in 2009, about 52 percent of emergency department visits in Shelby County were non urgent. Primary care doctors' offices or clinics would have been less-expensive options.

Officials said Methodist University's new emergency department was designed with health care reforms and Methodist's "patient and family centered care" philosophy in mind.

Dr. Ray Walther, medical director for Methodist's University's emergency department, said it is the city's busiest for Memphis Fire Department ambulances, with about 40 arrivals a day.

Memphis Fire Director Alvin Benson said the expanded facilities will help the speed of ambulance operations. "At the end of the day it's about getting crews in and out, back on the streets where they are most needed," Benson said.

Copyright 2014 - The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.