$1.5 million investment adds isolation rooms, efficiency to Freeman Neosho emergency department

(From Freeman Health)

Freeman Neosho Hospital cut the ribbon on a completely renovated Emergency Department on Tuesday, celebrating a $1.5 million dollar investment in the facility.

“Freeman Neosho Hospital is truly the heart of the communities it serves,” said Paula F. Baker, Freeman President and Chief Executive Officer. “These renovations focus on the protection of patients and staff from pathogens such as COVID-19. They also help us improve care and service to patients and their families.”

The floor-to-ceiling renovation of the emergency department includes the addition of three new negative pressure isolation rooms, a negative pressure triage screening room, a new nurses’ station, new cabinets and work surfaces, centralized storage, glass enclosures and new paint, floors and ceilings.

“These renovations are important because it helps us appropriately isolate patients of concern who are waiting for evaluation.” said Renee Denton, Freeman Neosho Hospital Chief Operating Officer. “And they help us minimize exposure to the virus. We now have two triage areas in the emergency department, with one being a negative pressure room for patients with COVID or other airborne diseases. We’ve also installed new heating and air conditioning systems to accommodate the negative pressure air flow design.”

These changes will mean faster turnaround times for nursing staff and result in reduced wait times for patients.

“This new space will save an incredible amount of time between patients,” said Kyle Bridges, Freeman Neosho Hospital Assistant Director of Nursing. “The downtime required for sterilizing a room after treating a COVID-19 patient was up to 90 minutes. That time is shortened dramatically with negative pressure rooms. The centralized storage also offers excellent functionality with our supplies in one place, allowing nurses to work faster and more efficiently.”

Three negative pressure rooms were also added to the intensive care unit and another four negative pressure isolation rooms were added to the medical surgery area.