OVER THE NEXT
14 months,
Beaufort Memorial’s eforts will
center on a $14.5 million project
that will renovate and expand the
hospital’s emergency department
(ED) and upgrade the emergency
power infrastructure system.
Te project was “ jump-started”
with a substantial gift from
Dr. Bruce Pratt to honor his par-
ents. In addition, hospital employ-
ees are three-fourths of the way
to raising $1 million for the Pratt
Emergency Center expansion. Te
BMH Foundation is also working
with numerous friends to obtain
additional philanthropic support
for this efort.
BMH President and CEO Rick
Toomey explains that the current
ED sees nearly 40,000 patients a
year—double the amount it was
built to handle—and the emer-
gency power infrastructure put
into place in 1992 is quickly be-
coming outdated.
“Obviously, we have grown over
the years, and we need to keep our
plant and infrastructure in place
to support emerging technology,”
he says. “We need to upgrade our
current facilities to make sure our
patients continue to receive the best
care possible.”
Changing and growing
Currently, the ED is about
9,500 square feet, with two triage
rooms and 18 treatment beds. Tis
project will expand the department
to more than double that. At the
end of the construction project,
the ED will have 26 private treat-
ment rooms, including two trauma
rooms. It also will have two consul-
tation rooms, one decontamination
room, and fve waiting areas to
review test results.
Te main patient waiting area
for the ED will be relocated to what
is currently the administrative
wing of the hospital on the frst
foor. Te administration ofces
recently moved to the third foor
of the Beaufort Medical Plaza. Te
current ED will be expanded on
three sides to provide for a larger
footprint. Tis will allow for more
clinic space and a redesign of the
workfow in the ED. It will also im-
prove ambulance access, and add a
“side porch” of the waiting area for
people who want to wait outside.
According to ER Director Kevin
Kremer, RN, it took a lot of research,
site visits and planning to come up
with a design that the staf feels will
help provide better, safer and more
efcient care. More than a year ago,
he and his staf began traveling to
hospitals all over the country that
are known to have great emergency
departments, and they brought
the best ideas home with them. He
also traveled with plant services
and information technology staf
members to come up with the best
equipment recommendations.
“I think our doctors, patients
and staf will be thrilled with the
changes we will be making in the
new facility,” Kremer says. “It will
take us some time and inconve-
nience to get there, but we can see
the light at the end of the tunnel…
and we are very excited about it. I
can’t thank Dr. Bruce Pratt enough
for his gift, which started us on this
road. I think he and his family will
be proud of the George N. Pratt MD
and Sarah Meyer Pratt Emergency
Center when it is completed.”
Te larger footprint will make
room for other improvements,
including the expansion of the base-
ment level of the Food and Nutrition
Te overhauled emergency department
will better meet our patients’ needs
Hospital starts
renovation and
expansion project
14
Health Scene • www.bmhsc.org