MISSOULA — Community Medical Center (CMC) announced a $13.5 million expansion and remodel of its existing Emergency Room on Wednesday morning.
Thanks to a combination of expected overall population growth and a projected 18% growth in people aged 65 and older within the next five years, CMC has decided to expand to meet growing health needs.
“Our new emergency department is going to 18 larger exam rooms than we currently have now, and every single one of them will be private,” said CMC Emergency Room Medical Director Dr. Nany Trangmoe.
Technological advances in equipment and services have grown tremendously as the current facility has aged and Dr. Trangmoe says it’s time the hospital caught up with the technology.
“The older facility that we currently have makes it more difficult to bring our bedside technology that we have developed over the years such as ultrasound, echocardiology, charting,” she explained.
Dr. Trangmoe added there is a need for rooms specific to trauma care, bariatric patients, orthopedic rooms, and more. The increased safety precautions that come with our current pandemic have also created a need for more Emergency Room space.
“With current COVID standards and all the precautions we have to take there’s more waiting outside, there’s more waiting in cars, there’s more waiting in waiting rooms. With the new facility I think that will enhance our ability to put people in rooms rather than keep them in waiting spaces.”
Another positive for CMC in this expansion is new and increased pediatric spaces, and for a facility that sees over 250 pediatric patients a month, the additional space is huge.
“It’s important for us to have specifically pediatric spaces where they feel comfortable, where the environment caters to a child,” CMC Pediatric Hospitalist Meek Gandhi said.
The completion date is expected in early 2022. The Emergency Department will remain open to care for patients during construction.
