KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The University of Tennessee Medical Center announced the expansion of its Emergency Department on Friday.
They said the innovative expansion project will "revolutionize patient experience, ensuring improved efficiency, effectiveness, quality, safety and service."
According to a release from UT Medical Center, the expansion will add 30,000 square feet including:
- 30 additional patient treatment rooms and 8 new intake rooms
- newly expanded and additional rooms/patient beds will be equipped to better handle potential future pandemic and/or mass casualty events, featuring both negative pressure and a separate entry
- an enhancement of the expansion is the ability to utilize many of the new beds as flex beds for additional capacity
- an expanded 2-story lobby—providing patients with a modern, comfortable and safe waiting space
- included will be a dedicated immunocompromised waiting space for added protection for vulnerable patients
- an overall intake area will be nearly double the size of the current space
- a redesigned ambulance bay that will be twice the size of the current bay—improving efficiencies with our area partners
- a new, modernized entrance with improved parking and patient access
UTMC provided a virtual tour of the emergency department below:
UTMC said patients will be served in two primary categories: those likely to be admitted and those likely to be discharged.
A newly created emergency observation unit will also offer improved treatment options for patients not requiring admission but requiring observation—lowering the cost of care, improving quality and increasing hospital capacity for our sickest patients, according to the release.
Also, patients’ entry into the medical center will be streamlined with a redesigned, reimagined space and evaluation process aimed at providing treatment more quickly and more effectively, according to the release. The improvements and upgrades to the emergency department have been designed in collaboration with local EMS partners to better understand their needs and best practices to offer an efficient transfer of knowledge to resume care promptly.
The expanded Emergency Department will be renamed The Haslam Family Center for Emergency & Trauma Services in recognition of the generous support the Haslam family provided to UTMC for the project, the release said.
The Haslam family donated $10 million to the project.
"The Haslam Family’s gift for this expansion is the single largest philanthropic gift that the medical center has received to date," UT Medical Center said.
In addition to the Haslam Family gift, the state of Tennessee has awarded the medical center a generous grant, UTMC said. The grant demonstrates the state’s commitment to improving patient care and experience.