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Nurses' Station Including links to 8 other rooms visible from this location
Reception	Trauma	Cardio Trauma
Patient Registration (Patient Side)	Patient Registration (ER Side)	EMT Center
Exam Room	Psych	Decontamination
Gynecology	Doctors' Dictation Room	Restroom

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St. Peter’s Hospital New Emergency Department

Phase I – New building facing Broadway
Operational mid-April

Phase II – Remodel of current department and addition of new Intensive Care Unit on east side of Hospital
Operational in December

Project Highlights:

Emergency Department
- Expanded to be more than 80 percent larger: from 7,515 to 13,600 square feet
- Total of 18 beds in larger treatment/exam rooms, dedicated triage room
- Central nurses’ station offering easy observation of all patient rooms
- Larger reception area with children’s play area
- Private patient registration area
- New covered drive-through entry

Intensive Care Unit
- Completely new unit; from 5,555 to 8,000 square feet
- Located next to Emergency Department, Surgery and Catheter Lab
- Reduced transportation of patients for improved privacy and continuity of care
- Larger rooms to accommodate new technology
- 8 ICU and 5 observation beds (former unit 8 beds)

Background:

St. Peter’s Emergency Department (ED) was constructed when the population of the Hospital’s service area was considerably smaller than it is today. Since then, the population has increased dramatically, and the number of patient visits to the ED has increased significantly. In just the past four years, patient visits have increased 20%, from approximately 17,000 a year to more than 21,000 a year. Despite the fact that two additional beds were constructed in 1994 as part of a department remodel, the ED remains crowded.
In addition to population growth, dramatic changes have affected the numbers and types of patients using emergency services in recent years. In the past, the emergency department treated only critically ill or injured patients–true medical emergencies. Today, an increasing number of patients come to the emergency department with more routine–although frequently urgent–medical problems. More and more patients are presenting to the emergency department for care rather than to their primary care physicians because of convenience: the hospital’s emergency services are open 24-hours a day, and wait times to see a doctor in the ED are often comparable to what patients experience at their primary care physicians’ offices.

To meet today’s standards, accommodate projected future growth, and provide patients and family members with a greater degree of privacy, efficiency and comfort, the emergency department is being expanded from its current 7,515 square feet to 13,600 square feet. There will be 19 beds in 15 patient treatment rooms, and each room will be up to 35% larger than current treatment rooms. Thirteen of the rooms will be single-patient rooms with walls (rather than curtains) to ensure confidentiality and privacy.

Additional features of the expanded emergency department will include:
A large, dedicated triage room where doctors and nurses will evaluate patients in a confidential manner and transfer them to appropriate treatment areas or to hospital registration, depending on their condition.

A state-of-the-art decontamination room.

A dedicated cardiac treatment room.

A modern three-bed trauma room.

Two isolation rooms for the treatment of potentially infectious or other special needs patients.

A dedicated gynecologic treatment room.

Two orthopedic treatment rooms.

A psychological exam room.

A spacious and comfortable patient waiting room, with a special play area for children, that will be more than double the size of the current waiting area.

Patient registration will be conducted in walled cubicles to ensure confidentiality.

A new, covered drive-through entry will allow walk-in patients to enter the ED without being exposed to the elements and will improve security.

St. Peter’s Overall Expansion Project
- Project is designed to ensure that the Hospital is able to meet the future healthcare needs of Helena and the Hospital service area’s 80,000 residents in Lewis & Clark, and parts of Jefferson, Broadwater, Meagher, and Powell counties.
- Uses existing campus assets while positioning facility to meet future needs
- More efficient layout to reduce operating costs
- Consolidates eight entrances to four for improved way finding and security
- Assists with recruitment and retention of physicians and staff
- Ninety percent of the current Hospital is more than 35 years old
- Project cost $43 million, financed through tax exempt financing, cash reserves, and capital campaign.
- Not anticipated to increase patient costs

Why Project is Needed
- Demographic projections show future implications for 2011 – 33% growth over age 65 and 28% growth for over age 45
- Growth of middle aged and seniors to drive ambulatory service volume; specifically advanced imaging and therapeutic care, cardiology, orthopedics, oncology, and neurology
- Increased population projected to drive a 36 percent increase in Emergency Department visits, 22 percent increase in inpatient volume, and 36 percent increase in outpatient volume over the next 10 years

For more information:
Peggy Stebbins, 444-2135
pstebbins@stpetes.org