Akron Ohio News - Summa opening ED in Green

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Summa opening ED in Green

6/28/2012 - South Side Leader

By Maria Lindsay

Community open house set for July 2

Summa Health System’s new Emergency Department at Green will open to the public July 9 in the Heritage Crossings development at Massillon and Graybill roads. The ambulance entrance of the facility is shown above.

Pictured above is one of the 14 private exam rooms, and shown below is a trauma or resuscitation room.

Photos: Maria Lindsay

GREEN — Summa Health System will open its $17 million Emergency Department (ED) at Green in Heritage Crossings at Massillon and Graybill roads to patients July 9.

The new 22,000-square-foot ED, located at 1825 Franks Parkway, opposite Boettler Road, will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is intended to serve patients in southern Summit and northern Stark counties, according to Summa officials.

The emergency department has 14 private exam rooms and two resuscitation rooms, all with windows. The facility also has dedicated laboratory and radiology departments and will offer bedside ultrasound imaging and bedside registration, which will provide faster access to care, according to Summa officials.

In addition, Summa officials said they plan to move the occupational health services from the Summa facility across the street to the new ED Aug. 13, providing more space and newer clinics.

“This is a wonderful facility,” said Dr. Jeff Wright, medical director of Summa’s Emergency Department at Green. “It will offer patients shorter stays prior to receiving patient care and closer access to medical help.”

Wright said the facility will be staffed by board-certified emergency physicians and other personnel who can treat both pediatric and adult emergencies.

“We have a very good emergency medical staff,” said Wright. “They are well-experienced, well-trained and board-certified.”

Wright said the department will likely see more lower acuity patients — those with less severe injuries and problems — but the facility can treat any major problem and then transport the patient to Summa Akron City Hospital, if necessary.

Some of those incidents might include broken bones, sprains, infections like pneumonia and bronchitis, lacerations and even chest pains and strokes.

Wright said that typically 90 percent of emergency room patients do not need to be admitted and are treated and released, and he expects that to be the case in Green.

Wright added ambulance personnel remain in contact with hospital officials en route, and patients needing surgery or cardiac catheterization will be transported to the Downtown Akron hospital.

Those patients that do need to be transferred will not be charged an additional bill for ambulance services, and test results will follow the patient, according to Wright.

The new ED will be hooked up to Summa’s electronic records systems, and physicians there will be able to access any needed medical information on patients, he said.

The public is invited to visit the new facility during a community open house July 2 from 5 to 8 p.m. The open house will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5:30 p.m., with comments from Green Mayor Dick Norton and Dr. Michelle Blanda, Summa’s chairperson of emergency medicine and trauma services. The event also will include facility tours, free health screenings, free first aid kits and prizes, including a chance to win one of five Kindle Fire devices and Green Family YMCA memberships. Soccer player Otto Orf will be available to sign autographs and is collecting donations of used soccer balls, shoes and shin guards for HandsOnSoccer’s Project Retread. Free car seat safety checks and photos with Summa’s mascot, Stitches, also will be available. Afterward, families are invited to the Green Family YMCA, 3800 Massillon Road, at 8 p.m. for “Flick and Float,” a movie and popcorn event during open swim time.

According to Summa officials, the ED expects to serve 14,000 patients at the facility, which was designed by Hasenstab Architects, in the first year. It also will bring 64 new jobs to the area.

The facility is part of Summa’s $96 million emergency network expansion plan unveiled in March 2010, according to Summa officials.

The new facility is located across from the Summa Health Center at Green, an $11 million 100,000-square-foot facility that includes the Green Family YMCA and which opened in 2000, according to Summa officials.

For more information, call 877-720-5318 or visit www.summahealth.org/GreenER.

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