Thomasville Medical Center’s New E.R. Accommodates Growing Patient Load
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When Thomasville Medical Center opens its new 24,000-square-foot emergency center, it will be sending a positive message to those who depend on the hospital.
“It’s a good validation to the people of Davidson County that Thomasville Medical Center is committed to the community here and will continue to grow with the needs,” says Jane Wilder, community relations director for the hospital.
The new wing, scheduled to open in mid-January 2008, will almost triple the number of E.R. treatment rooms available and almost quadruple the floor space. And located at the front of the 149-bed hospital, the new E.R. is more accessible than the old 6,000-square-foot, 10-room wing tucked at the rear of the campus.
The new emergency wing will have 27 rooms. “That will include a six-bed, fast-track for minor emergencies, four trauma rooms and a five-bed chest-pain center and observation rooms,” she says. “We also are an accredited chest-pain center and stroke center.”
The E.R. expansion is needed in large part because of the growth in populations of retirees and of families choosing to relocate to Davidson County, she says, noting the offerings that make life here attractive.
Not too far from the beaches and the mountains, the county is within easy reach of NBA and NFL teams an hour away in Charlotte, as well as other services in nearby Greensboro and Winston-Salem. Wake Forest and the University of North Carolina-Greensboro are “right down the road” and Davidson County Community College also is expanding.
With growth comes medical need, especially in emergency care.
“We served about 29,000 E.R. visitors last year,” she says. “We expect to exceed that amount this year.” The $9 million E.R. expansion allows the hospital to keep pace with need.
“We have seen an increase every year of people presenting themselves to the emergency room and we have literally outgrown the space we are using.” Many of those using the emergency room are without primary care physicians or are underinsured. “We treat people regardless of their ability to pay,” she says.
The new E.R. also will have a “SANE Room.” That’s an acronym for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, and it will offer personnel and equipment to gather forensic evidence and work with victims all the way through prosecution.
The E.R. also will have a 64-slice CT scanner, providing more detailed diagnostic imaging for patients from throughout the hospital.
In a non-E.R.-related development, the hospital has begun a blood conservation program, designed to collect and store blood for patients who oppose transfusions.
Story by Tim Ghianni
Photo by Todd Bennett
