Expansion of Imperial Point emergency center opens in January
If residents near Imperial Point have a medical emergency, they can rest assured they will have quality care. With the pending 
opening of Imperial Point Medical Center’s new emergency room in January, the North Broward Hospital District has invested over $15 million to build a state-of-the-art emergency room that can continue to handle increased demand. Population growth, and the closing of North Ridge Hospital in Oakland Park has greatly increased the number of patients Imperial Point has been seeing.
“I am proud to give the community its first holiday gift,” said Calvin Glidewell, hospital CEO during a special VIP reception recently. “It’s two months ahead of schedule, but this is just the cornerstone of a lot of things happening that will put Imperial Point on the map.”
Calvin Glidewell, CEO of Imperial Point Medical Center
The new Emergency Department will open to the public on January 3, 2010 and quadruples the current emergency room from 6,200 square feet to 24,063 sf with 20 treatment rooms, three of which are specifically designed for behavioral health, with its own entrance. The center is now a primary stroke center as well.
“Even with the current state of the economy, we knew expansion was essential to accommodate our area’s growing population and its needs,” said Glidewell. “Last year, we treated more than 30,000 patients in the Emergency Department, which was the same size as it was when IPMC opened 37 years ago and served a much smaller community. The expanded department offers more privacy and comfort for our patients and families as well as a more efficient and professional environment for our staff.”
The design, down to the placement of lights and outlets, was carefully planned with input from Imperial Point Medical Center physicians and nurses. The project’s construction company, ANF, set up a mock ER prior to the expansion so medical staff could help design the best lay-out in which to work. Lighting, cabinets and materials were selected to be environmentally friendly.
“Even with all the special attention to functionality, technology, green strategies and medical staff engagement, we are very pleased that the new Emergency Department will open up two months ahead of time,” states Glidewell.
Features of the new Emergency Department include:
- A decontamination room (showers and a reverse-flow room)
- Designated as Primary Stroke Center
- Support of 300 physicians and medical staff
- On-call physicians of every medical specialty
- All physicians are board certified in emergency medicine
- Code rooms adjacent to the ambulance entrance
- Private registration and triage rooms
- Universal rooms in which procedure carts are brought in according to patient needs and diagnosis
- PACS – Picture Archiving and Communications System
- A cheery family area/child play area to assist patients/families with children
- EMS lounge
- Electronic medical records with Broward Health
- Bedside computers
- Easy accessibility
- Some of the area’s shortest wait times
“Broward Health’s primary purpose is to ensure that when people need emergency care, the services are readily available in a high-quality facility capable of meeting their needs,” said Frank Nask, President and CEO of Broward Health. “The necessity for this expansion was clear.”
“The expansion and enhancement was much-needed by residents of Imperial Point and its surrounding communities,” said Betty Shelley, President of Imperial Point Neighborhood. “We’re grateful that IPMC and Broward Health took into consideration our growing population and the need for a larger and enhanced emergency facility.”
Imperial Point Medical Center is located at 6401 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308. For more information, please call (954) 776-8500 or visit www.BrowardHealth.org.
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Short URL: http://browardnetonline.com/?p=5132
Posted by Andrea Freygang
on Dec 13 2009. Filed under Broward County, Business, Families, Fort Lauderdale, Health, Local news.
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