Renovations Complete!

by Paul Hiltz, President/CEO, FACHE

I am excited to announce that the renovations have been completed for the NCH Baker Downtown Hospital Emergency Department.

This expansion project was generously funded through the support of local philanthropists.

Thank you to the following donors who helped support this project by providing lead gifts, Homer and Pat Scoville, Sandra and Alan Gerry, Donald and Alice Fehrenbach, Bill and Penny Allyn, Sam and Cindy Scalise, Art and Bev Cherry, and Craig and Pat Jilk.

With this renovation, the Emergency Department has doubled its footprint to nearly 47,000 square feet, and we have incorporated extensive new features to ensure the optimum patient experience.

We currently have a total of five EDs, including a pediatric emergency room, throughout Collier and South Lee Counties, cumulatively receiving 105,000 patients each year. Each ED has been renovated or built from the ground up since the Baker Emergency Department was last renovated in 1997.

The ED has expanded from the previous 32-bed capacity to 43 private treatment rooms. A second floor was also added with 18 observation rooms and six specialty resuscitation bays for the most critical patients to better accommodate peak patient volumes.

Additionally, the new facility has a thrombectomy-capable stroke center, a dedicated 128-slice CAT scanner for rapid diagnosis, and two dedicated x-ray rooms. There are also brand new resuscitation bays. For individuals needing acute or critical care, we have overhead gas booms and monitor booms. The patient is no longer tied to the wall, so the physician and staff have full 360-degree access, which will help in easing procedures such as intubation, without having to navigate around wires.

A tremendous amount of thought and planning went into the layout and facilities in the Baker ED. The center utilizes innovatively designed space, lighting, and colors with Southwest Florida’s aging population in mind, to reduce falls and provide a calming environment.

We have a unique design to accommodate our strong seasonal fluctuations. As volume increases, the Emergency Department has the capacity to expand and take on more patients, opening more space or shrinking to a center core as required. More comfortable and welcoming waiting rooms for patients and family were also incorporated.

We needed to grow and expand our emergency services to continue to meet the needs of our growing population. I am proud to lead NCH in continuing to be a premier facility in Collier County for emergencies.