Arroyo Grande hospital to spend $6.5 million to improve ER, cancer services

The Arroyo Grande Community Hospital is starting work on a major improvement project that will add patient rooms, increase space dedicated to rehabilitation and cancer services and add new MRI and scanning machines, among other advancements.

The $6.5 million project will address critical areas of the hospital, including the Emergency Department, Acute Rehabilitation Center, imaging services and cancer services, according to a news release.

The project is “the result of years of planning, fundraising and development,” the release says. It is funded through the hospital’s Legacy Campaign, which began in 2014 and has since raised about three-fourths of the $6.5 million goal. The campaign will continue until it raises the remaining $1.6 million.

Here’s a breakdown of the improvements:

▪  Emergency Department: Will get nine new patient rooms — doubling existing patient capacity — including an isolation room for critical patients, a specialized room for behavioral health and a dedicated GYN/GI room; the department will have an enhanced triage and fast track design to streamline flow so that “patients receive most appropriate care possible,” according to the emergency department web page; will add parking to accommodate more patients and visitors.

▪  Acute Rehabilitation Center: will get a larger gymnasium and additional therapy rooms to enhance patient care and allow patients more space to move, according to the center’s page; will enhance facilities and add dedicated space to allow for additional therapies and technology such as an exoskeleton, a therapeutic wearable robot used in muscular skeletal therapy; will extend alternative therapy options like recreational therapy and advancement of patient and family support groups.

▪  Imaging services: will add a new MRI scanner to provide greater image resolution, expanded clinical diagnostic capabilities, shorter scan times and a quieter, more open environment, according to the imaging services page; outpatients will receive a full range of services, including CT scanner, X-ray machine, ultrasound and bone density scanner on one campus.

▪  On-site cancer treatment and infusion services: oncology treatment and infusion services will be offered in space dedicated to cancer treatment, recovery and education, including 10 infusion chairs and a private room, according to the cancer services page; will add a nurse navigator, dietician, social worker and full-time pharmacist; will include resource center and complimentary services such as a place to learn techniques to mitigate appearance-related side effects of treatment.

The new Matthew Will Memorial Medical Center will house the hospital’s outpatient imaging and cancer services next door to the hospital; that building is under construction and is expected to be completed in August.

Improvements to the Acute Rehabilitation Center will begin in January, and are expected to be completed by June; expansion and renovations of the Emergency Department are expected be in place by summer 2019.

The hospital held a groundbreaking ceremony for the improvement projects Nov. 6.

This story was originally published November 15, 2017 at 5:53 PM with the headline "Arroyo Grande hospital to spend $6.5 million to improve ER, cancer services."