In about two years, Mercy will have a new emergency department just south of Springfield.
The 17,256-square-foot facility next to Mercy’s Orthopedic Hospital will have 11 beds, a trauma room, an isolation room, patient holding rooms and more. Marie Moore, Mercy's chief nursing officer, said the new ED will have dedicated imaging, lab, pharmacy, public safety and environmental services (EVS) resources.
Speaking at Friday's groundbreaking, Mercy Springfield's chief medical officer Dr. Greg Ledger said the area's population has grown "and with it the demand for healthcare services has surged." He said they've noticed increased traffic along Highway 65 and they "understand the needs of the population south of James River Freeway." He believes the new facility will help Mercy to better meet the evolving healthcare needs of the community.
Dr. Devin Boss who will be the ED’s medical director said the new facility will provide increased access to care for patients.
"We already lack space," he said. "And it's been a challenge to meet the needs of our community, and this new facility, hopefully, will add to our capacity to be able to care for more patients."
Boss said meeting patient needs in a timely manner in an emergency department can be a struggle.
"We have many patients that lack care and so they end up in our emergency departments and so our wait times are still prolonged — much longer than they should be," he said. "I mean, that's a national issue, but it is an issue here as well, so our hope is that this will help kind of absorb some of that and expedite care for patients."
Boss said the new emergency department won’t be a trauma, stroke or heart center, so patients who need that kind of care should go to the emergency department on Mercy’s main Springfield campus. He said they’ll be prepared to take care of those patients in the future south facility -- but they’ll have a dedicated ambulance onsite 24/7 to take those patients to the main campus if they have to be transferred immediately.
Moore said they anticipate serving 16,500 patients each year at Mercy's new emergency department, which is expected to open in 2025.