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Terry Singleton, the hospital's director for emergency medical services, said the new facility would speed up the treatment of emergency patients.
The 19-bed department features two large, spacious trauma bays and equally-sized cardiac bays that allow a large group of physicians and nurses to gather around an emergency patient and bring all their mobile medical equipment to bear on the patient. Like the ICU, the new ED also features built-in medical gas hook-ups, eliminating the need to occupy space with oxygen tanks and similar equipment.
The new ED will also be equipped with its own CT scanner and a digital X-ray machine, a decontamination room for patients who may have been exposed to dangerous materials, an ear, nose and throat room for Otolaryngological treatment and a three fast track rooms for non-emergency care.
"All of our support services will be immediately accessible," Singleton said. "Hopefully, it will expedite the flow of patients through the emergency room."
Singleton said physicians and nurses will no longer have to traverse the entire hospital to get patients to supporting services once the new ED is open. Patient and service flow has been an issue with the old ED and the modular buildings that have housed the temporary ED since construction began last spring, he said
"There's no comparison," Singleton said of the old emergency treatment area and the new one. "One was 40 years old and one's just opening. In the new ED, the design is more conducive to the flow of patients; it's bigger, clearer, brighter; has more rooms and all the services located in it. It's kind of like comparing an apple to an orange."
Singleton said the new ED is "as good as anything in the state; better than most."
Director of Nursing Merlene Myrick said her staff is itching to move into the new ED and out of the confines of the modular units.
"The staff are just beside themselves," she said. "We have the most excellent staff you could ever want, but they've never had a place this nice to work in."
Another important player in the new ED will be KDMC's radiology department, which will operate the new CT scanner and X-ray machine so critical in diagnosing patients' internal problems.
"The quicker you can get started, the better the treatment," said radiology director Jim Krichbaum. "[Having radiology equipment in the ED] is going to greatly speed up the turnaround time to get images back to the physicians. It can impact the patient's status while they're there."
Krichbaum said radiology would continue to provide ultrasound, nuclear medicine and MRI services out of the radiology department while some technicians manned the controls in the new ED. Both will be staffed around the clock, he said.
"We're excited about it," Krichbaum said. "It's going to make our lives easier from the standpoint that we don't have to transport patients. With the old ED, the only we had to go in the middle of the night was through the back hallway - no surveillance, no cameras. It's kind of like being in space ... [The new ED] will be much safer for the patients, safer for the employees. It's a very good thing."
KDMC Chief Executive Officer Alvin Hoover said the new ED would receive its Certificate of Occupancy, which signifies its compliance with building codes, next week, and a "few more things" still need to be done before opening.
Once up and running, Hoover said the new ED would position KDMC well for the future in Southwest Mississippi.
"Health care is a competitive market, and we want people in Lincoln County to stay home for health care," he said. "We want people in surrounding counties to look to us for health care needs they can't get in their home environment. When you look at health care in general, this says we have a commitment to the growing health care market."
