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Eastern Niagara Hospital Announces Plans for New Emergency Department

By Rachel Leber

LOCKPORT, N.Y. — The Eastern Niagara Hospital (ENH) in Lockport announced plans on Dec. 6 to construct a state-of-the-art building on the Hospital’s Lockport campus that will house a new emergency department and medical office building.

The hospital currently admits approximately 17,000 patients per year on average. The new building will add much-needed space to the hospital’s currently 38,000-square-foot emergency department and will provide a total of 16 treatment rooms. In addition, space designated for orthopedics, trauma and child psychiatric evaluations will be provided.

The second floor of the new building will house ENH’s family medicine residency practice, outpatient mental health services and offices for medical specialists. ENH administrators have yet to determine how they will use the existing emergency department space. The new two-story 21,000-square-foot building will be located near the hospital’s entrance off East Avenue.

“The need for primary care and specialty services continues to grow in our region,” said Nicholas Varallo, M.D., medical director in a recent statement. “These enhancements will make services more accessible and improve patient care throughout our entire system as we strive to provide optimum care for the community.”

The total project cost is estimated at $8.2 million. ENH was recently awarded $5.9 million toward the project through the New York State Department of Health’s Statewide Health Care Facility Transformation Program (NYSDOH). ENH officials will seek grant funding and other resources to cover the remaining $2.3 million of expense, according to Carolyn Moore, an ENH spokesperson in a recent interview with the Lockport Journal.

“The design would allow our medical professionals to provide the highest level of care with full observation of each patient room,” said Leonard Franco, M.D., director of emergency services. “The size of the new unit would also increase significantly, providing 7,725 square feet of additional space in the emergency department. This upgrade will also benefit our local EMS providers, assisting them in a more expeditious transfer of patients.”

The project is still in its early stages, and groundbreaking isn’t expected until late 2018.