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Davis Regional opens new emergency room
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Published: September 19, 2009
"Extraordinary" was the word most often used on Friday to describe the new Davis Regional Medical Center emergency room, its staff and the quality of care provided while physicians treated patients in nine rooms and three closets.
The hospital's board of trustees, its owners, Health Management Associates, and community leaders got the first glimpse of the new 19-bed emergency room.
Davis CEO Andy Davis said it was a new era for the ER.
"This is a fantastic day for Davis Regional Medical Center," he said. "What is more important to us is the quality of care these families are going to receive."
The 15,000-square-foot emergency room increases Davis Regional Medical Center's resuscitation rooms from one to three, has flat-screen TVs in each exam room and provides more space for doctors to see patients.
Davis Regional Chief Operation Officer Kelly Conklin said 29 weeks ago, the emergency room was a parking lot. The physicians made the best of the 12-room space in the old emergency room, but what it really amounted to was nine rooms and three closets, she said.
HMA invested $8 million in the project, which is expected to handle the hospital's growing number of ER visitors. When HMA took control of Davis Regional in 2000, the hospital recorded 9,000 to 10,000 patient visits to the emergency room.
In 2008, that number nearly tripled to 26,845.
HMA CEO Gary Newsome said the emergency room is truly the front door to the hospital. Around 50 to 60 percent of all hospital admissions come from the ER.
"We need to make sure it's the best outcome they can have," he said.
Emergency Room Medical Director Dr. Stephen Greer said the new facility not only gives physicians a chance to give better health care, but it also provides a comfortable environment for the patients.
"As the county grows, the hospital grows," he said.
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