It’s official! A small groundbreaking ceremony took place on June 20, 2023 to officially mark the start of a journey of construction to improve the existing emergency room.
SCMC is proud to build a 16,000 square foot addition to our medical center. The goal is to better meet the growing needs of our patients with optimal design, safety and technology. The addition will include 11,000 square feet on the main floor and 5,000 square feet on the upper level. The Emergency Room will be the largest part of the main floor expansion. Our current ER will be fully operational during the project, with patients arriving at the main South Street entrance. The Urgent and Respiratory Care entrance will not be impacted by the construction.
Dr. Jason Hughes, ER Physician/Medical Director at SCMC stated during his speech…“Change is hard and often painful, but we are going to change for the better. We are going to make this better.”
Things we are making better for YOU:
✔️Improved space & efficiency in the ER, bigger and streamlined which includes additional trauma, fast track, treatment and ligature-free rooms. ✔️Improved patient flow and better privacy. A new elevator will also be added.
✔️Increased safety for staff with centrally located nursing station and multiple exits.
It took a number of people to make the planning of this successful, below are some of those key players.
To the west of the new ER, SCMC will have a Radiology suite that will house a new, large bore MRI, as well as the Dexa Scan. The MRI that was housed in this building has been sold and removed. We do have an MRI set up in the southeast corner of the property that is fully functional for the duration of this construction project. The former MRI building, the ambulance garage and the awning will be carefully removed to make room for the new ER. The goal is to have the expansion weather-tight by winter.
From the first-floor addition, there will be an elevator installed for transport to the inpatient and surgical portion of the hospital. Much of the upper-level addition will remain unfinished for future expansion. However, we will be remodeling and expanding an inpatient physical therapy and cardiac rehabilitation room during this project. SCMC will also be remodeling the main floor Physical Therapy Department to provide for an expanded gym area for patients. SCMC is very fortunate to be able to fund this project without external financing, and we look forward to its late summer 2024 completion. We’d like to thank the SCMC Board of Directors, the Morris City Council, City Manager Blaine Hill, and community members for their support of this project. Also thank you to Carlson-LaVine, Inc. the acting construction company doing the building and Perkins & Will the architects on the project.
Thank you for your patience during the construction phase and for supporting your local healthcare facility for years to come.
