More Room for Care
health care, hospitals, thomasville medical center,
With 17 years in emergency medicine, Kim Smith has learned a thing or two about how emergency rooms work – or should work.
Expertise such as Smith’s has led a team of architects and builders to erect Thomasville Medical Center’s new emergency department.
Like many hospitals, TMC has seen its emergency medicine population boom, thanks in part to Davidson County’s growing local population, according to Smith, nurse manager of TMC’s emergency department.
“We have been experiencing anywhere from 11 to 12 percent growth each year, and we were seeing 26,000 to 27,000 patients annually in 3,400 square feet of space,” Smith says.
Smith dreamed of a new, state-of-the-art facility, and when hospital administrators gave the go-ahead on a new ED, she jumped into action.
“They supported me in traveling all over the U.S. to other hospitals,” she says, noting a seminar in Philadelphia on building new ERs. “I pulled pieces from things and places I had liked.”
She read up on the latest in ER design, soliciting input from medical staff. She also met repeatedly with the project’s architect, Charlotte-based Peterson Associates, and guided the new facility from its inception until its opening in May 2008.
The new $10 million ED is located in front of the hospital, making it more accessible and serving as the face of the hospital to the community. The new building boasts more than 24,000 square feet, and the number of beds has increased from 10 to 27, all within eyesight of an 84-foot-long nurse and physician station.
Six minor-care beds, with their own waiting room, ensure that less seriously ill patients can be treated more quickly. And chest pain patients who may not need intensive care can be observed in the new five-bed chest pain area.
The new ED also enjoys a less stressful atmosphere for staff and patients alike, with high ceilings, cool blues and green on the walls, and lots of natural light.
“I think patients have been surprised with how nice it is,” says Smith. “We’ve had a lot of compliments.”
Story by Laura Hill
Photo by Ian Curcio
