Columbus Regional Hospital Creates Efficient Emergency Department

COLUMBUS, Ind. — Columbus Regional Hospital is creating an emergency department that will not only focus on expanding and updating the facility, but also wayfinding for patients and staff. Although the emergency room will be much larger than its predecessor, the number of footsteps patients will have to take to get treatment will be fewer and more private, according to The Republic.

The new department will feature 28 new rooms, nursing stations and a new waiting area. The project is part of a larger $30 million plan by the hospital to update the emergency department and create an expansion for patient care, according to The Republic. The hospital is designed to be more efficient and meet the growing patient volume at the Columbus Regional Hospital. The current facility was built to treat between 20,000 to 25,000 patients per year, but hospital officials are predicting that the new facility will see 45,000 patients per year.

Some of the features include a new reception area, designed for quick medical assessment of incoming patients, and results-pending cubicles, in which patients awaiting test results can relax in private instead of having to go back to the waiting room, said Steve Thomas, director of facilities planning and development, to The Republic. The department will have five trauma/critical care rooms, five psychiatric evaluation rooms, 15 acute exam rooms, three rapid assessment rooms and two isolation rooms. The size of the rooms and what each room will be equipped with varies in each room, depending on the type of treatment that is planned for the space.

Construction on the 16,350-square-foot emergency department, which is located on the southeast side of the main hospital, will nearly double the size of the current facility. The project broke ground more than a year ago in January 2015 and is slated for completion this spring.