DOH gives Initial Approval for ECMC ER/OR Expansions

Project will allow hospital to handle growing patient demand

BUFFALO, NY, January 14, 2008—Erie County Medical Center received initial state approval to move forward with a $7 million expansion of its emergency and surgical operating rooms, officials at the region’s Level I trauma hospital announced today. 

        Erie County Medical Center Corp. will expand the Emergency Department by adding 8 examination rooms, two operating rooms, and new support areas for emergency and surgical services.  It currently has 29 exam rooms, and the 10 ORs will grow to 12. Waiting room areas were updated a year ago, while the last major work done on the ER, a redesign of the space, occurred in late 90s. 

        The expansion plan permits the emergency and surgical departments to continue work unaffected while the renovation work is underway and there will be no outward sign of the work. The cost of this emergency/surgical department expansion project is expected to be $7.01 million. 

        “We are pleased that the state Department of Health approved our ER and OR expansion plans,” said CEO Jody L. Lomeo. “I would like to thank State Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines and Gov. David A. Paterson for their support through this process.”

         “This is the first physical sign of the progress and improvements that we will see at ECMC in the next months and years as we work with Great Lakes Health to improve our collective facilities to serve patients better.” 

        ECMC applied for the expansion to serve residents of the eight counties of Western New York, where most of the hospital’s 55,000 annual ER patients live. The annual number of patients increased from 48,670 in 2005 to 54,768 in 2008 and the new emergency room capacity at the Level I Trauma Center increases the community’s overall capacity. 

        ECMC surgeons are performing more procedures in orthopaedics, general surgery and vascular surgery. ECMC recently hired additional surgeons to respond to the increase in surgical volume. 

        The additional two operating rooms will help ECMC accommodate the projected growth in surgeries as well. Additional operating rooms are needed because some surgical cases are increasingly complex and require more time. Neurosurgical and spine cases especially take more time due to increased complexity.

        The increased capacity for emergency and critical care surgeries will help open capacity as well for elective surgeries. 

        “This is a welcome move and one that will benefit everyone involved: ECMC, Great Lakes, doctors, nurses, staff and, mostly, patients,” said Dr. Yogesh Bakhai, president of the ECMC Medical-Dental staff.