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07.01.2022
News

NMC Project Will Modernize Emergency Department

NMC will soon kick off a construction project to fully renovate the Emergency Department to increase privacy, safety and efficiency.

 

NMC’s Emergency Department (ED) facility is more than three decades old and changes are needed to meet the needs of the community, including moving away from curtained bays to private patient spaces, additional space to eliminate the need for hall beds being utilized when do not have enough rooms to provide care, as well as providing dedicated spaces for patients in mental health crisis who are awaiting placement in a mental health care facility.

 

The construction project’s Certificate of Need was approved by the Green Mountain Care board in June 2020 with a more recent approval of a CON amendment. The $11 million renovation will renovate 9,276 square feet of space add 2,400 square feet, increasing treatment spaces from 14 in the current ED to 21 in the new one.

 

The improvements will also increase capacity for patients experiencing mental health issues, offering four dedicated rooms for those community members whereas the current ED space only has one such room. Additionally, the new space will have greater capacity to provide negative pressure to help provide greater infection control measures in the ED.

 

The design of the new ED features an industry-standard layout with a provider hub in the center of the space and treatment rooms encircling that for greater visibility and closer contact with patients. In addition to modernizing the physical space, the ED’s equipment will be modernized as well.

 

“I am excited to see this project finally move forward,” said Dr. Louis Dandurand, ED Medical Director. “This will be significant leap forward in providing emergency care to our community.  The project is a culmination of years of planning that will provide patients with a more private, healing environment; and staff with a modern, redesigned work space.  Even though the disruption to our normal routines with be difficult during construction, we are very much looking forward to the modernization of our department.

 

In order to renovate a busy healthcare service that is always in operation, NMC will temporarily relocate emergency services to the shuttered inpatient wing that is located near the ED. The first step of the project involves renovations to that closed inpatient unit to prepare it for service. Those renovations will happen at the end of the summer with the ED relocation to happen in late fall.

 

Once the ED has moved into the new temporary location, reconstruction of the existing space can begin and is expected to last approximately 10 months. This timeline would have the new Emergency Department open in the fall of 2023.