Over 600 staff members, the community and area leaders attended the open house and ribbon cutting August 27 for a new Emergency Department at Parkland Health Center's Farmington, Missouri location. The new ED is twice the square footage and has doubled the capacity of the previous department.

The new ED contains two major trauma rooms that can each handle two patients and 14 additional treatment rooms, three of which are designated to care for patients who awaiting admission or transfer by ambulance or helicopter to another facility.

Federal grant Provides Computerized Patient Monitoring
U.S. Representative Jo Ann Emerson spoke at the opening. Emerson was instrumental in obtaining a federal grant for the project that helped purchase a computerized central patient monitoring system. This equipment includes an electronic tracking board that enables staff to be constantly updated on the status of each patient. With a glance, staff will know what procedure is next for each patient, and the tracking board alerts staff if a patient has not received care within a specified time frame.

30,000 Patients per Year
Parkland's combined Emergency Departments treat more than 30,000 patients annually. "We are looking forward to having an increased capacity to serve our growing community" says Patsy Coleman, RN, BSN, manager of emergency services at Parkland Health Center, Farmington. 

The new facility is designed for expediency, with direct access from triage into the emergency room and a tube system to send lab work to the lab.

Parkland Health Center has two Emergency Departments, one in Farmington and one in Bonne Terre, that are staffed 24/7, with trauma-trained physicians, nurses and technicians. A heliport is located at both facilities, and the Emergency Department is part of the poison control network. In addition, certified sexual assault nurse examiners are available at both emergency rooms, and emergency nurses are also trained in pediatric advanced life support and advanced cardiac life support.  Parkland's Emergency Department serves as a teaching facility for Mineral Area College's EMT, paramedic, nurse practitioner, LPN and RN students. 

Part of a $30 Million Plan
This project was the first phase of $30 million plan for the campus over the next two years. It will include a new 1.5 Tesla MRI scanner, a 64-slice CT scanner and a dedicated Emergency Department radiography machine. A new medical office building will be built, a gymnasium building for physical therapy, occupational therapy, and cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, a second heliport, an outer road which will provide secondary access to the campus and several internal renovation projects.