Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota Opens State-of-the-Art Emergency Department at Minneapolis Hospital

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL, Minn., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ — Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota will open its new Emergency Department at its Minneapolis Hospital on Oct. 28. Children’s has the sixth busiest pediatric Emergency Department in the country, with more than 82,000 visits last year. Patient volume due to H1N1-influenza related illnesses will push that number even higher this year. Children’s new space will help reduce wait times and help meet demand with a more inviting, more efficient, and more effective design that will significantly improve the patient experience.

Children’s – Minneapolis is located at 2525 Chicago Avenue South. The new emergency entrance will be at the intersection of 25th St. and Elliot Ave., one block east of Chicago Ave. The new Emergency Department features a separate and enclosed ambulance entrance, a state-of-the-art decontamination area, high-tech trauma rooms, and expanded capacity to 28 rooms.

“This new Emergency Department will provide a state-of-the-art facility to match the exceptional care that Children’s provides to families,” said Alan L. Goldbloom, MD, president and CEO, Children’s of Minnesota. “Minnesota families have relied on Children’s Emergency Department for generations, and we’re committed to delivering on our promise to provide best-in-class care.”

In planning the new space, a team of Children’s Emergency Department staff members collaborated to identify an ideal model of care. The team focused on two goals, increasing customer satisfaction while eliminating inefficient processes and procedures.

The results of this work include new spaces and processes that aid patient flow, a new emergency department staffing model to help increase efficiency and decrease wait times, and a more inviting waiting room area for families.

“I’ve been involved with Emergency Departments and emergency services around the country and I can truly say that Children’s Emergency Department is the best place for children to come,” said Claudia Hines, patient care manager for the Children’s – Minneapolis Emergency Department. “The expertise and resources here are amazing. The new facility will only enhance our ability to provide next generation care.”

Expanding the Emergency Department at Children’s marks the completion of another stage in Children’s multi-year $300 million expansion launched in 2007. The opening of the Emergency Department follows the opening of the new five-story Children’s Specialty Center in June.

About Children’s of Minnesota:

Serving as Minnesota’s children’s hospital since 1924, Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota is the seventh-largest pediatric health care organization in the United States, with 332 staffed beds at its two hospitals in St. Paul and Minneapolis. An independent, not-for-profit health care system, Children’s of Minnesota provides care through more than 14,000 inpatient visits and more than 200,000 emergency room and other outpatient visits every year. Children’s is the only Minnesota hospital system to provide comprehensive care exclusively to children and in 2008 it was ranked among the best pediatric hospitals by U.S. News & World Report.

SOURCE Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota