Press Date: 06/09/2010

$27.5 million expansion improves patient care and physician training

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Today, Doctors Hospital opens a new $27.5 million two-story facility that more than doubles the size of the emergency department on the first floor and adds a state-of-the-art medical education center on the second floor.

Funded by OhioHealth and a grant from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations, the upgrades help establish Doctors Hospital as one of the nation's premiere osteopathic teaching hospitals, according to Michael Reichfield, President of Doctors Hospital. "The new facility enables us to meet the increasing demand from our patients and our profession to deliver the highest quality of care and the best available training," Reichfield said.

The OhioHealth Board of Trustees approved the project in 2008 to improve care and ease overcrowding in the emergency department and to enhance the hospital's medical education and training program. The expansion was funded with a $15 million contribution from OhioHealth and a $12.5 million grant from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations.

The new emergency department increases in size from 14,000 to 30,000 square feet and in capacity to 100,000 patient visits a year. The unit had been accommodating 70,000 patient visits a year in a space designed for 40,000 patients.

"We built this for the future - 10 to 20 years down the road," Reichfield said. "We anticipate growth for the West Side of Columbus and we wanted to be part of that."

The new emergency department includes 48 private exam rooms, two trauma rooms, seven triage rooms, indoor/outdoor decontamination facilities, a café and comfortable waiting areas. "It allows patients to be seen sooner in more comfortable, private environments," said Marcy Conti, RN, Vice President of Operations and Chief Nursing Officer.

Electronic medical records, the most advanced diagnostic technology and more space for ambulance crews are among the wide scope of improvements. The expansion enhances hospital services such as the groundbreaking Physicians in Triage program that enables patients with minor complaints to be treated quickly and discharged.

The second floor of the new addition is home to the Heritage Center for Osteopathic Medical Education. The center consolidates all medical education and research programs into a training facility that features human patient simulators, an anatomical laboratory, medical library, wireless Internet access, a 300-seat auditorium and administrative offices for the Department of Graduate Medical Education.

This investment in the community continues the Foundation's generous support of Columbus' west side and Doctors Hospital, the second largest osteopathic teaching hospital in the United States. Doctors Hospital provides postgraduate training to more than 160 physicians a year from 16 of the nation's 26 colleges of osteopathic medicine.

"The new center, coupled with our excellent programs, makes Doctors Hospital more attractive to the best residents from all over the country, many of whom may stay in the area to improve our community's access to care. It definitely will help us recruit the top physicians in each graduating class," said Deborah Blackwell, DO, Vice President, Medical Education.

Doctors Hospital this year was named for the first time to the Thomson Reuters list of the 100 Top Hospitals in the United States in the Major Teaching Category, according to objective benchmarks tracked by Medicare for 3,000 short-term, acute care, non-federal hospitals.

The expanded emergency department and new medical education center ensures continued excellence at Doctors Hospital and helps the hospital respond to an increase in the  number of healthcare consumers and a physician shortage projected in the wake of federal healthcare reform legislation.  "We are very fortunate to open a facility that meets both of those challenges," Reichfield said.