DUBLIN, Ga. — Dublin's Fairview Park Hospital showed off more than $2.5 million worth of upgrades for their emergency room. According to Don Avery, the CEO of Fairview Park Hospital, he says that 80% of the admissions come from the ER.
"Out of all the ER patients, we have about 12% will get admitted. That's a big deal, that's why the ER is so important," Avery said.
Renovations for the emergency room started in October, and lasted about six months, so what's new? Equipment has been upgraded, most X-rays can be done in the ER, as well as a CT scanner, and they added six treatment spaces.
"We needed more treatment space, so we increased that by about 20%," Avery said.
The waiting room is about double the size separating office space from clinical space.
"We needed better workflow because we got bogged down in moving people around and it was very inefficient," he said.
There is also improved security for patients and staff, as well as a dedicated area for mental health patients.
"Oftentimes, we're treating patients in hall beds. In an ER, no matter how many beds you have, there are times when you get an influx of patients that's really beyond your room capability," Avery said.
Avery says Fairview Park serves about 12 counties, making it the largest hospital between Macon and Savannah. He says they hope to eventually build a free-standing urgent care unit because any of the folks who visit the emergency room could be treated in urgent care instead.