Larry Stephens of Camden Clark Ambulance Service shows visitors an ambulance at the new ambulance entrance at the new Camden Clark Emergency Department. The medical center held an open house to show the public the new emergency department, which will open Nov. 7.
PARKERSBURG — The public got a chance to take a tour Sunday of the new emergency department at the WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center.
The medical center held an open house to allow people the chance to come in and see how the new emergency department was laid out and how it operated when it officially opens on Monday, Nov. 7.
“It has been a great day for us,” said David McClure, president and CEO. “We have had our employees and their families as well as the public go through and look at the new facility. I have heard nothing but positive comments from everybody who has walked through the facilities.”
The hospital has constructed a 44-bed emergency department that will have a split-flow model where the most seriously ill patients will be cared for at the entrances for the ambulances. The emergency department will have three new trauma rooms, a walk-in section for the high acuity patients and an ambulatory section.
On the floor above, the hospital will have a 30-bed inpatient unit, 15 surgical beds and 15 advanced care beds, that will connect to the South Tower so patients can be moved quickly to the operating rooms if they require immediate surgery.
The $20 million project encompasses around 63,000 square feet.
Guided tours were conducted throughout the facility by hospital staff.
The new emergency department includes its own CT scanner, a diagnostic room, digital x-ray facility and more. There is easier access from the emergency department to get patients to the operating rooms.
“Everything is right here where we need it,” Director of Emergency Services Susan Abdella said. “We have been able to design this department around our current work flow and how we move our patients to be able to get them the quickest care and the quality care within a few steps of our department.”
One of the goals of the new emergency department is to cutdown on wait times.
Abdella said, on average, people will be in and out and seeing the doctor within 20 minutes of presenting, in many cases a lot faster.
People who took the tour were very impressed.
Dr. Don Lantz, who was one of the first full-time emergency room doctors at St. Joseph’s Hospital in the 1967 took the tour with many of the hospital staff recognizing who he was and taking time to greet him. He is retired now.
There was a lot of equipment that goes a long way in being able to treat patients effectively, he said
“It is very impressive,” Lantz said. “The size of it for one thing and all the modern equipment they have.”
Although, he would feel a little out of place now, he said everything he had was always up-to-date at the time.
“I never felt limited in anything,” he said.
Craig Arnold of Lubeck said he has been following the project since it was announced and since construction began over a year ago.
“We have been watching this project and wanted to come and see it during the open house,” he said. “It is very nice It seems to be well equipped.”
Sharon Hennen of Parkersburg said she had seen the work that has been going on for over the last year. Whenever the medical center has introduced new things through an open house, she has always made it a point to come and see it.
“I definitely wanted to come and see what it was like,” she said.
She has seen interviews with hospital officials and wanted to see for herself what it was like.
“It sounded so interesting and sounded like it was going to be so nice,” Hennen said. “It is just going to be so great.”
She was impressed with everything.
“It is going to be wonderful,” Hennen said.
McClure said the new emergency department will help the flow of patients so people get in and are tended to as quickly as possible.
“My hope is that the new facility is not only a very functional facility but it will continue to provide excellent care to our patients,” he said. “In the emergency department, patients should be able to get into a room and seen right away. From there they get the care they need and head home or go on to the next level of care.”
