Last year, Newark-Wayne Community Hospital’s emergency department treated about 22,000 patients. That is about double the amount the department could handle and still provide optimal care to, according to Robert Biernbaum, chief of emergency services.
But at an event Aug. 26 at Boller Point Vineyard in Sodus, hospital representatives announced that soon the department will be better able to handle the influx of patients, which has increased since the emergency department was built in the 1970s, said Annette Leahy, president of Newark-Wayne Community Hospital.
“The volume has substantially increased since the emergency department was first built,” she said. “Now we’re prepared to modernize the facility.”
She announced the hospital plans to expand the department by 12,000 square feet, and an additional 10,000 square feet that already exists will be renovated. The 18-bed emergency department will include two trauma rooms and a separate “fast track” area for patients with minor injuries and illnesses, said Biernbaum. The old department will be renovated to become part of the central registration and endoscopy area.
“This is a brand new emergency department,” said Biernbaum. “The reason we’re doing this is because the community really needs this. ... We’re stuck, and the reason we’re stuck is we’ve kind of outgrown our department.”
There are also plans to make the hospital, an affiliate of Rochester General Hospital, a certified stroke center.
The expansion will cost over $14 million, and the hospital is currently seeking financing and is fundraising for the project, said Leahy. The bulk of the construction is set to begin next spring and will take about two years to complete.
The hospital also plans to submit a request to the state to have urgent care services at its Myers campus in Sodus, said Leahy. If approved, the hospital plans to run a pilot program next year.
“Access to health care is very important,” said Leahy. “We’re the only hospital in Wayne County.”
