In the event of a medical emergency, such as injury, stroke, or cardiac arrest, world-class medical care is readily available in Cleveland Clinic Florida’s expanded Emergency Services Department. The state-of-the-art facility opened last month as part of the newly constructed hospital tower. The five-story, 221-square-foot addition to the Weston campus expands capacity by 50 percent.
Cleveland Clinic Florida CEO and President Wael Barsoum, MD, says the Emergency Services Department expansion and addition of 75 hospital beds was driven by demand for services. “As a premier academic medical center known for providing complex care for the sickest of patients, it was vital for both the local community and the region that we expand.”
Located on the first floor of the new hospital tower, the expanded Emergency Services Department consists of 42 emergency bays designed to accommodate more than 70,000 patients per year. The facility was specially designed to support patient safety, comfort and experience.
It offers ten fast-track bays to facilitate quicker resolution for less emergent, low acuity patients. It has three triage bays for rapid assessments to identify appropriate level of care. In addition, the Emergency Services Department houses two resuscitation bays with state-of-the-art medical gas booms to resuscitate patients with the most severe medical conditions. It also features an emerging pathogens unit, accessible via a separate decontamination entryway, which promotes added safety when caring for patients who have been exposed to chemical, radiological or biological agents.
To promote patient care, the entire Emergency Services Department was designed to provide natural light through elevated windows throughout the central space along with windows in each of the 24 observation bays to facilitate comfort and a healing environment. In addition, the bays feature opaque glass doors in place of privacy curtains, contributing to infection control and greater patient privacy.
“The evidence-based practices implemented by our emergency medicine team exemplifies the level of care offered at South Florida’s top ranked hospital,” states Emergency Services Department Chairman James Roach, DO. “We deliver rapid, expert care for patients experiencing all manner of medical emergencies. This expansion allows us to save more lives and preserve quality of life for more patients.”
In addition to the Emergency Services Department, the new hospital tower also houses a 24-bed surgical intensive care unit (ICU) on the second floor and 26 medical/surgical and telemetry beds for oncology and acute care patients on the third floor. The fourth floor of the tower, with 24 medical ICU beds, is scheduled to open by the end of the year. The fifth floor will be open when demand requires additional capacity.