CLEARLAKE — Excitement ran high Thursday night at the grand opening of the St. Helena Hospital, Clear Lake Emergency Department. As people walked in the brand new department, they crossed over a path of bricks, each inscribed with donor names.
David Santos, vice president of operations, spoke at the event and proclaimed this as the ?Year of Clear Lake”. He spoke of what was to come and what the community could expect from the new emergency department, which will provide transportation to and from the hospital for patients with critical health conditions.
The $14 million emergency department renovation and expansion project was long awaited by the community, who raised approximately $1.5 million toward the cost. Santos also put a spotlight on Redbud Health District for its $1 million donation.
Initially built in 1968 as a small community hospital, later bought by Adventist Health, St. Helena Hospital, Clear Lake served a county population of 19,000. Today, Lake County has a population of approximately 65,000. The hospital staff recognized a new emergency department was needed to serve the ever-increasing community.
An hour prior to the grand opening, hospital staff, donors and other key members of the expansion project were invited for a private opening commencement and a tour of the facility.
Terry Newmyer, President and CEO of St. Helena Region and the Northern California Network of Adventist Health, kicked off the event at 4:30 p.m. with a speech thanking the community for support through the long and complicated process of funding (he dated the idea back to the 1990s) and building the hospital. Newmyer said that the new emergency department “will drastically improve the quality of life and is crucial and essential to the hospitals success.”
Dr. Marc Shapiro followed, and turned attention to the opportunity the emergency department provides the rural health districts to focus on premium care.
“We had an obligation to our community and that drove us to work harder every day to complete this project,” he said.
Dr. Rodney Look, chief of the emergency department, also spoke at the event.
Brian Hooker, aide to Congressman John Garamendi (D-Fairfield), presented the hospital with a commendation to recognize the passion and dedication it took in order to finish this project. Look accepted on behalf of the hospital.
Following the speeches, the donors and staff were welcomed in for tours.
The configuration of the emergency department was updated with a private ambulance entrance and an easy-to-locate entrance for walk-in patients and visitors.
The upgrade added five state-of-the-art patient monitoring rooms, bringing the total of private rooms to 12 in the hospital. Two rooms were made for the sole use of specialized care for trauma patients. Each room had a plaque next to the entrance recognizing specific donors.
The waiting room has been expanded and updated as well, adding a fountain in hopes of creating a sense of healing, Shapiro said. In addition, the redesigned triage area enables patients to go directly from the emergency department lobby to a private bed.
Other improvements include significantly reduced wait times, the ability to isolate patients and the elimination of cross contamination in open areas. The addition of a pressure room was greatly received by the community as well, which will ensure isolation of patients with transmittable diseases in order to protect the community.
The emergency department will have the ability to see approximately 50 patients a day, said Regional Vice President of Behavioral Medicine and Population Health Tricia Williams.
It is expected that the emergency department will begin to see patients in about 30 days.
The event also included entertainment for the public. Fill-up the clown entertained the younger crowd with balloon animals while the LC Diamonds performed.
Concluding the event, Santos and Fred Poucher, Redbud Health Care District Second Vice President, cut the red ribbon for the crowd of about 350 people, marking the beginning of a tremendous turn in health care for Lake County.
Amber Dems is a staff reporter for Lake County Publishing. She can be reached at adems@record-bee.com.
