ECC Opens New Front Door

The project is part of a multi-phase renovation

Last week, SMH-Sarasota celebrated the completion of the first phase of the renovation of the Emergency Care Center’s entrance and waiting area, part of a project designed to improve patient flow and the ECC’s clinical capabilities.

The ECC’s entrance has shifted a bit closer to Surgery Reception, and includes a new public safety check-in desk and registration areas, and an updated waiting room with lighting, colors and artwork designed to promote healing.

The next phase of the project, scheduled to open at the end of June, will be a separate new waiting area devoted to Pediatric Emergency patients, with kid-friendly design elements to help ease children’s fears of visiting the hospital.

The ECC renovation project’s third phase, slated to be complete this fall, will create space for two much-needed CT scanners. Currently, ECC patients must be transported to the Radiology Department to undergo CT scans. Having CT capability in the ECC will help increase efficiency and reduce turnaround times, which is critical to a department that has close to 100,000 emergency/trauma visits each year. One of the new scanners will be up and running this fall, and the second CT will open later on.

Many thanks to the ECC team and the many other departments, leaders and staff for their expert planning and implementation, and their efforts to ensure our busy ECC remains operational throughout the multi-phase project.

Top left: Cutting the ribbon to open the renovated new entrance and waiting room in SMH-Sarasota’s Emergency Care Center are, l-r, Campus President Lorrie Liang, Emergency Medicine Medical Director Ruben Holland, MD; ECC Director Aimee Miller; Sarasota County Public Hospital Board member Richard Rehmeyer, MD; Hospital Board Chair Sharon Wetzler DePeters, APRN; Hospital Board members Britt Riner, Jim Meister, Sarah Lodge and Greg Carter; and ECC Clinical Manager III Billy LoPresti.
Top right: Showing off the new Emergency Care Center’s Public Safety check-in and Registration area, from left, are Public Safety Operations Manager Aaron Schneck, Public Safety Supervisor Tracy Brooks, Public Safety and Emergency Management Director Jeffery Mangrum, Patient Registration Manager Vanessa Gordon-Grant, Patient Safety Director Robb Wilburn, and Registration Lead Rep Danielle Hartshorne.
Bottom left: The ECC entry doors have shifted slightly toward the Surgery Reception/Lobby area, and the old ECC entrance and former waiting area have closed to accommodate the construction of CT scanning rooms.
Bottom right: The updated new entrance features plenty of natural light to provide a welcoming front door to the emergency room.