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St. E.’s Boardman plans $4.2M expansion project
Growth in patient volumes resulted in part from the sale of Beeghly Medical Park.
BOARDMAN — Humility of Mary Health Partners is spending $4.2 million to expand the emergency department at its St. Elizabeth Boardman Health Center to meet unanticipated growth in the number of patient visits.
The 7,400-square-foot expansion will provide 12 additional emergency treatment areas and an additional nursing station, which hospital officials believe will meet demand through 2014.
Also, the project will relocate patient registration and triage areas, said Genie Aubel, president of St. Elizabeth Boardman. The emergency department has 18 treatment areas.
The expansion is necessary because over the last five years the emergency department has seen a steady increase in patient volumes.
The growth increased dramatically in 2008, fueled by the new hospital’s first full year of operation as an acute-care facility, and Forum Health’s 2007 sale of Beeghly Medical Park, which had an emergency department, said Robert Shroder, president and chief executive officer of HMHP. The number of patients rose from 80 to 90 per day to 110 to 120 when Beeghly closed, he said.
The $4,262,000 recently approved by HMHP’s Board of Directors for the project includes about $2.3 million for construction and $982,000 for equipment. The project is slated to go out for bids in June with construction beginning in August and completion scheduled for late in 2010. Some $125 million has been invested at St. Elizabeth Boardman since 2002, Shroder said.
“It’s exciting to be able to announce this expansion, especially in these economic times. We are proud to be able to meet the changing health-care needs of the Mahoning Valley and assure residents that they do not need to leave the area for superb care,” he said.
Throughout the construction process, steps will be taken to ensure that patient care is not interrupted. The expansion will result in a nominal number of new jobs, and will provide more ample work space and reduce the time patients spend in the emergency department, Aubel said.
HMHP has also invested in St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Youngstown, and is about halfway through a project that will result in an additional 59 private patient rooms.
Twenty-seven rooms were opened to begin the project and by July 1 another 32 private rooms will have been added, said Shroder.
alcorn@vindy.com
ST. ELIZABETH
Boardman Health Center
The number of patients at St. Elizabeth Boardman has risen over the last five years, resulting in a $4.2 million emergency department expansion.
2004: 22,241 annual visits; 61 average daily visits.
2005: 25,272 annual visits; 69 average daily visits.
2006: 25,412 annual visits; 70 average daily visits.
2007: 28,912 annual visits; 79 average daily visits.
2008: 40,312 annual visits; 110 average daily visits.
Source: Humility of Mary Health Partners.