The opening this weekend of the new emergency department at DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital marks the completion of the largest construction project in northwest Detroit in more than a decade.
“This is all part of a $77 million project for a new emergency department, a new main lobby, a new ICU, and a new radiology department,” says Jennie Miller, spokeswoman for DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital. “The emergency department was the first and the biggest of all of the projects.”
The new department, which will host an open house for the public on Saturday, and will officially start receiving patients on Tuesday. At 59,000 square feet, the new facility is better equipped to meet the needs of the 100,000-plus patients that visit the hospital’s ED each year, Miller says.
“That’s sort of how this project evolved,” Miller says. “One of the biggest complaints from our patients was that that people were doubled up, and privacy was an issue. We’ve more than doubled the size (of the current emergency department) to accommodate our patients’ wishes.”
In addition to a confidential psychiatric crisis center and advanced lifesaving equipment, the new department features special treatment areas for geriatric and pediatric patients. For children, the emergency room offers private pediatric treatment areas decorated with colorful artwork. If advanced care is needed, children can be transferred to the DMC Children’s Hospital of Michigan via a “Panda One” ambulance.
For the elderly, the new department has private rooms especially equipped to improve a senior patient’s care. Miller says signage in the rooms is larger and more easily readable. Hearing tools and print enlarging glasses are available to patients as well, she adds.
The community open house will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event will include tours of the new department, free health screenings, and a Radio Disney toy clinic, where children can bring in their favorite toy or stuffed animal for a checkup.
The new intensive care unit, radiology department, and main hospital lobby are expected to be completed in 2015.
