The hospital’s emergency department was originally built to serve 35,000 patients. The increase in patient traffic at the Augusta Health ER over the past 20 years has led to patients often being served in hallways or corridors during especially busy times. “The hospital is not only seeing more patients, but patients of higher acuity with trauma, strokes and heart attacks,” said Mary Mannix, Augusta Health president and chief executive officer at Augusta Health, in a recent statement.

The addition and renovation will allow the hospital to expand and grow as the community it serves does the same, according to Mannix. The current space constraints of the hospital limits its ability to accommodate and upgrade to the significant innovations in medical equipment and technology in recent years, and the intention of the hospital’s expansion is to make these upgrades possible.

The plans for the expansion include a 33,000-square-foot, two-story addition, as well as renovating the existing 17,500-square-foot facility. Completion of the project is set for 2019. The expansion will include 48 large, private rooms and dedicated areas for stroke, heart attack and other trauma cases. There will be areas for family consultation, private conversations and for meetings with doctors. Enhanced workspace for EMS, police and mental health professionals are also included in the plans for expansion. A new ambulatory entrance with a canopy will also be built, and 16,288 square feet of shelled space for future use are included in the expansion.

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