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TGH Checks Into New ER

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By KEITH MORELLI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 7, 2007

TAMPA - The halls were empty, the floors sparkled and it was quiet.

That won't often be the case after Thursday, when the new emergency room at Tampa General Hospital opens to the public.

People will find it more convenient to get to, by road or by helicopter. Medical personnel will be able to do much of their work in one place, rather than running between floors for X-rays. And everyone should notice the added elbowroom for a patient load that has grown from 59,739 in 2002 to an estimated 68,000 for the year that ended Sept. 30.

Part of the reason for the rise is the ER's status as a Level I trauma center for a 12-county region, meaning specialists in trauma, neurosurgery and other fields are available 24 hours a day. The Tampa Bay area has three Level II trauma centers.

The new ER will take the place of the old one in the existing building, Tampa General spokesman John Dunn said. "We're going to use that for something else," he said.

Twice the size of the old ER, the new one occupies 65,000 square feet on the second floor of a six-story addition. There are 66 private treatment rooms and six trauma rooms. The price tag on the whole building is $190 million, financed with bonds.

The ER is equipped to handle sick and injured children, stroke victims, trauma sufferers, victims of terrorist attacks and just about anyone else in need of emergency medical care.

Among special features are a decontamination shower for exposure to toxins and a self-contained "negative pressure" section that keeps an entire pod isolated in an airborne epidemic. Credit the timing of design work for that; it came as SARS and bird flu were making headlines.

Downstairs, in the valet parking lot, there is even a place for a decontamination shower assembly line to process 200 people an hour.

Also on the second floor are operating rooms, X-ray technology and a 24-hour pharmacy, said Amy Paratore, vice president of emergency and trauma operations. Emergency room workers have had to get X-rays on one floor and take patients to an operating room on another floor.

All along the walls of the new floor, even in the waiting room, are panels with power outlets, suction outlets and oxygen hoses for emergencies that happen at inopportune places.

Part of the emergency room is for pediatrics, and the muted tones are designed to be child-friendly.

"It's a nautical theme," Paratore said. Original works of art hang from the walls, and sea shells are stamped into the floors. There are DVD players in each room.

Flat-screen television sets hang throughout the area. Roomy waiting areas ring the north side of the building, looking over a waterfront panorama of the Tampa skyline.

That points up what may be a drawback for the location: It was built to withstand a Category 3 hurricane, but Tampa General is on the water and subject to storm surge during a tropical storm or hurricane.

Spokesman Dunn's answer: Hospital officials thought about that. He said that during a storm, few people would be out heading toward the hospital. In the storm's aftermath, if bridges were open the emergency room would be accessible and a storm surge would not stay long.

The emergency room is on the second floor, 22 feet above sea level, he noted.

"We may be out of commission for a short time," Dunn said.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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