Building a healthy future
Lake County Record Bee
Washington,
Oct 18 -
Congressman Mike Thompson joined St. Helena Hospital Clearlake (SHC) staff Friday in announcing the initiation of a $12.1 million emergency department renovation project. The project leads the hospital's "Building for our Future" campaign.
"Today is about building for the future," Jennifer Swenson, vice presidents of operations at SHC, said. "Today I would like to share with you that we are an organization in transformation."
Swenson said that SHC has been deliver care to residents of Lake County for more than 40 years. She said during that time there have been some trials including those faced through a poor economy.
"We are changing from the inside out," Swenson said. "We are transforming care on the inside, establishing a program that allows our physicians to remain inside the hospital to attend to the needs of our patients, implanting the high quality standards that St. Helena Hospital in the Napa Valley has known for years, providing an environment that supports clinical innovation, education and partnerships for our staff; replacing old equipment with state-of-the-art new equipment. We are transforming care."
Terry Newmyer, president/CEO of Adventist Health St. Helena Region, said that Adventist Health has come to realize the importance of emergency medicine in the local community. He said while the district has allocated $9 million there is still a long way to go to reach the $12 million cost of the project. He said that Redbud Healthcare District has pledged $1.3 million and that SHC will look toward the community to raise the rest.
Thompson commended the care delivered by the St. Helena Healthcare System. He said there is a $300 appropriation awaiting congress approval, for the project. He encouraged all in attendance to contact Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein and convey support for the allocation of funds. "We've done our work in the house, now they need to do it in the Senate," he said.
The renovation project will begin with a Wall Breaking ceremony at 8 a.m. Nov. 10. The project will is expected to be complete in about 18 months. Renovations will double the current emergency room space adding five state-of-the-art patient monitoring rooms bringing the total number of private rooms to 12. Two of the new rooms will be for trauma patients. The project will also improve the configuration of the emergency department, providing a private ambulance entrance, a welcoming entrance for walk-in patients and visitors and a pleasant, comfortable environment in the larger, remodeled waiting area. The triage area will be redesigned so that patients can go directly from the emergency department lobby to a private bed if necessary.