By Bob Keyes
The Portland Press Herald
BRUNSWICK, Maine — Mid Coast Hospital’s new emergency department opened for business this morning.
Though it is only eight years old, the Brunswick hospital has expanded and moved its emergency department to improve efficiency, treatment and care, and the flow of patients through the department.
The $21.3 million, two-year project doubles the size of the department by adding 16 private treatment rooms, and enabling doctors and nurses to better provide critical services to patients in a timely manner, said Michael J. L’Abbe, the hospital’s public affairs director.
''It’s all about getting the patient the care they need as quickly and efficiently as possible,’' he said.
One mile east of Cook’s Corner, Mid Coast treats about 22,000 patients a year in its emergency department, an average of 60 each day, said Lori Allen, the department’s director of nursing.
The expansion was necessary because of growing demand for emergency services, L’Abbe said.
When Mid Coast opened in 2001, no one envisioned the hospital outgrowing its emergency department so quickly. But patient volumes, coupled with technological advances, justified the expansion, he said.
On Monday, workers busied themselves hanging signs, polishing floors and attending to myriad details. That work continued Tuesday, with the goal of completing the move from the current department to the new space early this morning.
The plan called for the first patient to be admitted in the new emergency department at 6 a.m., said Kathi Coffin, the department’s emergency coordinator.
Along with private rooms for patients, the new department has a pair of large triage rooms for minor treatments, an X-ray facility, and large trauma rooms for the most urgent cases.
There’s also a decontamination room for patients who are involved in chemical spills or other toxic exposure.
Another feature of the new layout is a registration-free check-in process. Patients will not be asked to register when they enter the department, but will be registered as they move through their treatment.
At the back of the hospital, the emergency department also provides easier access for EMS crews, L’Abbe said.
In addition to providing 16 private rooms for emergency patients on the ground level, the expansion adds 18 beds to the hospital’s medical surgical unit on the floor above. With the new beds, the hospital now has 54 in its medical surgical unit, and a total of 92 beds, L’Abbe said.
With the expansion, patients who come into the emergency department and require an overnight stay shouldn’t have to wait for a bed, said Sharon Guethle, director of the medical surgical department.
There have been times when emergency patients who need overnight treatment haven’t had a place in the medical surgical unit.
''It takes planning to make sure everybody has a bed, and this definitely helps the flow,’' Guethle said.
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