One of the Wasatch Front's busiest emergency rooms just doubled in size with the opening of the 16,500-square-foot emergency department at Pioneer Valley Hospital.
The expansion of the emergency department is just part of a $12 million renovation and expansion to the facility. The grand opening celebration was Saturday. Monday, the new space will be open for business.
Then other work can begin in the area that was the hospital's emergency department, said spokesman Doug Boudreaux of IASIS Healthcare, which owns Pioneer Valley.
The new emergency department includes 25 private treatment rooms, including two designated for pediatric cases. There are two trauma rooms and two cardiac exam rooms. Eight of the rooms are part of a "Fast Track" section for patients with non-urgent care needs. And the new ER boasts both a triage station and a play area for children.
The badly needed expansion comes at a time when many hospitals nationwide are closing their emergency rooms. But Pioneer Valley has just gotten busier and busier in recent years, Boudreaux said.
"It averages 100 patients a day, and the demand is not only from West Valley but from the whole west side of the valley. This new emergency room is state of the art."
Boudreaux said that many people who lack insurance end up using emergency rooms as an entry point into care, making the emergency department a foyer of sorts into the entire hospital.
Other ongoing or soon-to-begin renovations at Pioneer Valley include new MRI and endoscopy suites in the radiology department, a new cardiac catheterization lab, relocation of women's diagnostic services and renovation of the labor and delivery unit, the addition of more operating rooms and creation of more space for outpatient surgery, a redesign of the main entrance and remodeling of patient rooms. It's all slated to be done by November.
IASIS, based in Tennessee, also owns and operates Davis Hospital and Medical Center in Layton, Jordan Valley Hospital and Salt Lake Regional Medical Center. Major expansions at the first two, totaling more than $36 million, were just finished. Groundbreaking for the expansion and renovation of Salt Lake Valley Regional Medical Center will take place this summer.
Boudreaux noted that the emergency department project by Layton Construction actually came in on time and under budget.
E-mail: lois@desnews.com