By Cindy J. Roth
"With the new expansion we will see a 10-percent increase in emergency visits," said Shelley Lotenberg, the hospital's director of public affairs. "A lot of construction renovation is taking place, all to benefit the patient. Hopefully, it will bring more patients so we can thrive."
The old emergency department was gutted and expanded to make room for four new triage rooms, eight bathrooms, a family support room, a new reception area, billing and insurance check-in stations and a children's waiting area separate from the regular waiting area. The children's area will be equipped with a television and toys for the children to play with.
The Nassau University Medical Center's emergency department sees a little more than 82,000 patients a year, about 50 percent of all traumas in Nassau County and western Suffolk County, according to Lotenberg. The newly renovated department will maximize comfort and privacy for all patients and their families, speed up the time from when patients check in to when they are seen, as well as update the hospital's reputation.
"We're patient focused, and we want to get away from the image of being the old county hospital," said Joan McInerney, Emergency Medicine Department chairwoman.
"This is a first-rate hospital," said Jeff O'Toole, a Nassau County police medical technician who works in the hospital's emergency medical control room. "It always had a bad reputation but hopefully people will come and we'll take good care of you."
Phase two of the project will be to install a new CAT scan machine in the emergency department. Phase three renovations include overhauls and expansions of other departments within the hospital, including the primary-care center, orthopedics and burn centers. There is no official time line set for these projects at this time.
Lotenberg said she is pleased with the way the renovations are going and looks forward to the ribbon cutting later this month. Because 83 percent of people administered in the hospital come through the emergency unit, it is important to have the best emergency department possible, she said.
"As a level-one trauma center, we have board-certified physicians, 300 residents on staff, 220 full-time physicians in all different specialties, and it's an attractive thing," said Lotenberg.
