TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

New Bay Pines Emergency Room Opens Thursday

ADVERTISEMENT

TBO.com Staff

Published: January 21, 2009

ST. PETERSBURG - The Bay Pines VA Medical Center in Pinellas County is unveiling its newly expanded emergency room Thursday.

At 15,647 square feet, it is nearly three times the size of the old one, said Faith Belcher, spokeswoman for Bay Pines VA Healthcare System. The project cost $5.5 million and will be staffed by 32 employees.

The aim of the new emergency department is to provide quality health care to Pinellas area veterans and to give them quicker access to emergency care, she said.

The hospital, at 10000 Bay Pines Blvd., Bay Pines, will unveil the new department at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

The hospital is the fourth largest in the nation, with nearly 21,000 visits by veterans to the emergency room each year. About 25 percent of those result in admission to the hospital.

The renovation to the emergency department is the first major project at the facility since it was built in 1983. The new emergency department will have 20 private rooms with in-room bathrooms. The old emergency department only had 10 and privacy was provided by partitions.

There will also be four specialized safe rooms for mental health patients with 24-hour access to a psychiatrist for mental health conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

There will also be a state-of-the-art tracking system designed to decrease waiting and time spent in the emergency department.

"Our expanded capacity correlates to an ability to provide emergency care to more veterans and ensure that our doors remain open for them," said Lithium Lin, chief of medicine services at the facility. "With our ED doubled to 20 beds and the many technological advances we've installed, we will be able to provide expanded emergency care when veterans need it."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT