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Potomac Hospital's new emergency room expansion and children's emergency treatment area (KidsCARE) opened to the public in November 2003.
Sixteen private examination rooms have been added to the original 26 rooms and this ‘growth spurt' has added 8,800 additional square feet to the facility.
The 16 rooms are divided into two pods of eight rooms with a nursing station for each pod. Eight of the beds can be used for those who need continuous observation and are waiting to be admitted into the hospital.
The other eight rooms will be used for children and its special decor will ease fears of kids and parents alike. KidsCARE will alleviate the patient load in the regular examination rooms and will allow us to care for our smallest patients in their own area. The equipment needed for children can be stored nearby, therefore eliminating the need for nurses and staff to walk to different areas of the department while caring for the children who come in.
A room specifically dedicated to Potomac's Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) program has been added. The SANE team at Potomac Hospital provides care to sexual assault victims by collecting forensic evidence, aiding in preventing sexually transmitted disease, and promoting community awareness.
The new addition has other special characteristics as well, such as the ability to turn the entire addition into a negative pressure area. This feature would be used in the event of an outbreak of a highly infectious disease for the isolation of up to 16 patients and would help prevent the spread of disease.
There is also a new room for the ambulance/rescue workers and for security personnel and an outside water hookup for mass decontamination equipment has also been added to the facility.
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