🔒Pandemic’s influence helps shape Bristol Hospital’s $16.1M emergency department expansion

Despite many hospitals moving away from emergency room care toward community-based, urgent care-type facilities, Bristol Health is bucking the trend with a new and improved emergency department that’s aimed at increasing patient service and efficiencies, while also providing state-of-the-art aesthetics such as lighting, finishes and temperature controls.

The $16.1 million, 12,500-square-foot expansion is set to welcome its first patients Dec. 20, and will ultimately double the size of the hospital’s emergency department to 25,000 square feet. The project’s final stage will be renovating the old emergency facility, which will be completed by next fall.

During a recent tour of the new emergency department, hospital officials discussed the new facility, what it means for patient care and how the global health pandemic played a pivotal role in many facets of the new complex.

“For many years, the emergency department provided exceptional care and we all took pride in that,” said Dr. Andrew Lim, who has run the emergency department for about a decade. “When I was recruited to work here — before I stepped foot in the building — our team of nurses and staff said ‘don’t look at the walls.’ ”

More room, better efficiencies

The emergency department’s outdated look led the Bristol Hospital Foundation to begin looking into an expansion about four years ago. The foundation raised $5.5 million for the project with the rest being financed via bonding through the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority.

“It’s so important for this community hospital, which is the most valuable resource in the community, to be more welcoming and have a more comfortable environment,” said Mary Lynn Gagnon, executive director of the hospital’s foundation.

The new emergency center will feature 21 private rooms; 10 behavioral health exam rooms; five pediatric patient rooms; three semi-private exam rooms; two patient isolation rooms; one dedicated compassion room for those who have lost a loved one; a cardiology triage room; and a trauma room with two bays.

Officials said the current facility, which sees 40,000 patients annually, is outdated and worn and the new one will have built-in features that make care safer and give more privacy.

“The biggest difference is the room size, which will be at least one-third larger,” Lim said. “The rooms are bigger and give more privacy and comfort. It also provides more space for medical procedures.”

The expansion also aims to improve efficiencies.

Lim, who said he anticipates adding more staff down the road, noted the new facility’s glass doors and curved design will allow hospital staff to see more patient rooms from the emergency department’s command center.

“It’s a safety aspect. It allows us to see more patients,” which can lead to quicker help for things like accidental falls, Lim said.

Lim also said the new emergency department fits into the hospital’s overall strategic plan. Bristol Health is the parent company of Bristol Hospital, one of the few remaining independent hospitals in the state.

In fiscal 2019, the latest data available, Bristol Hospital recorded $149.3 million in operating revenue and posted a $16.6 million loss, according to data from the Office of Health Strategy.

“One of the main pillars of our strategic plan centers on strengthening our core services and continuing to grow our ability to serve our community,” Lim said. “The expansion of the emergency center really allows us to do that. This project supplies us with the ability to deliver attentive care in a comfortable environment.”

Hospital officials said the new emergency department also allows for easier parking and ambulance access. A new waiting room aims to get patients checked in and seen by a doctor within 20 minutes.

Lim said hospital staff had a major say in the project’s design. That input included having aqua and forest murals in the pediatric rooms and having every bed head wall encompass a different nature-designed theme.

“The aesthetics are felt by the patients and the staff,” Lim said. “There are also warm tones of colors and all the finishes have warm tones. Patient satisfaction brings staff satisfaction. It’s a better work environment for the staff.”

COVID influence

Tom Roche, the project’s construction manager, said pandemic concerns played a part in the design.

In large part because of COVID, the new emergency department has two patient isolation rooms and 12 negative pressure rooms. Those features aren’t available in the current facility.

The two isolation rooms are dedicated for patients with airborne illnesses.

Lim conceded the trend today is to encourage patients to seek care in lower-cost settings, like an urgent care facility, but he said emergency departments have their place and are also needed.

“There is most definitely a need for emergency rooms and emergency care,” he said. “The pandemic also taught us that emergency care might not look like it did 10 years ago. We are adapting and because of COVID began providing telehealth services through the ER in April 2020. Because of COVID, patients were scared to seek medical attention.”

COVID-19 concerns also disrupted fundraising for the expansion, Gagnon said.

“We couldn’t take donors to lunch or meet them in person,” she said. “We had to rely on phone, emails, letters and virtual meetings.”

There were other hiccups that delayed the project by three months.

The opening of the new emergency department coincides with Bristol Hospital’s 100th anniversary. The hospital opened in 1921 in response to the Spanish Flu pandemic.