BEDFORD, Va. – Officials at Bedford Memorial Hospital say they're committed to quality patient care which is why millions of dollars will be used to upgrade and renovate its emergency department.
The emergency room will look different by March of next year as a $4 million renovation will start in a few weeks. Patti Jurkus, CEO of Bedford Memorial Hospital is showing of the layouts for the changes regarding the emergency department.
"We renovated the medical surgical unit, we renovated the ICU and now it's time for the ED," said Jurkus.
The emergency department will undergo a complete renovation to help improve the quality of care for those in Bedford County.
"The ED sees about 16,000 patients a year. And we saw an 11 percent increase from 2014-2016. And we anticipate continued growth," said Jurkus.
When renovations begin, the ED will move to another part of the hospital to keep patients safe. A temporary location will be set up on May 18 for about six to eight months.
"At that point, we will be treating patients in two areas until we can get everyone moved upstairs to the temporary location," said Jurkus.
Because of updated emergency department also comes updated services and adding new medical equipment to continue making this a full-service hospital.
"This community is growing quickly. We are full quite often. And we take care of any and every patient that comes in. So we need the space to do that. The equipment to do that in the staff to do it," said Stacey Hopkins, RN director for the emergency department.
Stacey Hopkins, says the hospital and its staff are excited about the renovations, which has been in the works for more than 2 1/2 half years. Once complete the emergency room will go from a 10 bed to a 14-bed treatment facility.
The hospital has increased staffing for this process for both the temporary facility and the new facility, hiring three more registered nurses and multiple physicians.