The multi-million dollar expansion of the Emergency Department of Hutchinson Regional Medical Center gets underway on February 17 with a January 31, 2015 completion date planned.
Kevin Miller, F.A.C.H.E., President and CEO of Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System, said the expansion will more than double the size of the Emergency Department from 6,000 square feet to 16,000 square feet. The existing ten-bed facility will be expanded to 19 beds. Currently, the Emergency Department serves 25,000 patients annually.
The construction will be completed in three phases:
During Phase I, which will be approximately six months in duration, the lobby area will be expanded with new offices for Emergency Department personnel along with a new entrance for Reno County EMS vehicles.
During a portion of Phase I, beginning in mid-to-late-April, the Intensive Care Unit will be temporarily relocated for a period of approximately six weeks to the hospital’s fourth floor while construction crews install 1,000 feet of sewer lines, updated electrical wiring, duct work and floor tiles. Also, for a few weekends, the Emergency Department will be relocated to the Same Day Surgery Center on the opposite end of Hutchinson Regional Medical Center so that updates in that area can be completed.
The parking area adjacent to the Emergency Department which is used by the general public will be relocated soon after the start of the construction, and patients and visitors for ER, ICU, and outpatient services will be asked to park in the lot south and west of the main hospital entrance.
Phase II will take approximately three months to complete, and will include converting a portion of the existing ambulance garage to additional Emergency Department exam rooms.
The final part of the construction, Phase III, will include a remodel of the Emergency Department, landscaping of the adjacent grounds and construction of a canopy to provide cover for patients who are arriving for emergent medical services.
Miller said that the enhancements will be completed during the year of the 40th anniversary of the opening of Hutchinson Regional Medical Center.