Wooster Community Hospital breaks ground on Patient Access Emergency Center
Wooster Community Hospital is taking another step into the future.
Planning for the Patient Access Emergency Center actually began about six years ago, hospital CEO Bill Sheron told the crowd gathered Monday afternoon for the ceremonial groundbreaking.
The actual groundbreaking began Tuesday, with a projected completion date for the facility in December 2025 or January 2026.
COVID-19 "slowed us down" in the planning stages, Sheron said, but the delay turned out to be fortuitous in making design changes reflecting the new healthcare climate.
"Patient access to our hospital needed to be improved," Sheron said. "It will benefit the entire community. This has been a long time coming."
The innovative center will connect to the existing building and be "located closer in proximity to surgery, obstetrics and patient tower," according to information from the hospital.
Enhanced entrance, redesigned emergency services, quiet place for mental health care
Some of the features it will offer are an enhanced main entrance with improved patient access and optimized waiting areas, in addition to redesigned emergency services, which will be customized to a variety of patient populations in order to meet changing health care concerns.
For example, mental health care has become a big need, said Jeff Wright, the emergency department's medical director, and with it the demand for more quiet and conducive accommodations.
Security also will be increased.
No model exists for what the hospital is doing with the center; it is "our concept ... a new idea," Sheron said.
The ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony included members of the hospital's Board of Governors.
Sheron, on the cusp of retiring after a 30-year tenure at Wooster Community Hospital, himself received an accolade.
"Before the wall is built," Wooster Mayor Bob Reynolds said, a "wall hanging" of Sheron with a portrait and a tribute was unveiled at the groundbreaking event.
Engraved on it is the Wooster Community Health System's appreciation for Sheron's "transformative" leadership, "turning a financially struggling small community hospital into a debt-free and financially strong health system," which has earned awards and expanded.
"The Patient Access Emergency Center is a culmination of his vision, tenets and passion to improve access to the best health care in Wayne County," the plaque reads.
Plan began to take shape in 2017
Scott Boyes, who will take over as the new CEO when his position as CFO and COO is filled, said it has been a privilege "to work for and with (Sheron)."
Boyes called the 44,000 square foot, $34 million addition "a huge investment for Wooster Hospital and the community."
It all began in 2017 when the facilities plan for the hospital was updated, Boyes said.
According to the American Hospital Association, he said, a key factor in a hospital's success is reinvesting in facilities.
Shelly Huff, vice president of patient services and chief nursing officer, said the new facility will "improve access to the building for the whole community," eliminating the need for "weaving in and out" from one location to another.
From trauma to heart attack, substance abuse to mass casualties, WCH will be ready
Outpatient registration, lab draws and medical records will be "right inside the front doors," Huff said.
Emergency care has changed over the last five-10 years, she said, and the use of Wooster Hospital's emergency department has doubled.
Patients come not just from Wooster, but from other areas, including Mansfield, Akron, Wadsworth, Rittman and Millersburg, Wright said.
Wright said the project will elevate the entire hospital.
"We're going to have a beautiful facility," he said, serving a wide variety of patients with needs ranging from trauma to heart attacks, strokes, substance abuse, mass casualties and infectious diseases.
New and larger rooms will be customized for populations such as pediatrics and mental health.
Wright also cited specific accommodations for emergency medical personnel, whim he praised for "doing a wonderful job" and for having "great rapport with patients; they treat them like their family. Squads do an amazing job."
Emphasis on mental health is a building 'cornerstone'
"I'm privileged to be asked to say a few words," said Yvonne Williams, member of the hospital's Board of Governors.
Looking out over the large audience gathered in the tent set up in the parking lot adjacent to the groundbreaking site, Williams told the crowd of government officials, law enforcement and emergency personnel, hospital employees and other guests, "Your support (of the hospital) is crucial."
Williams called the emphasis on mental health a "cornerstone" of the new building.
"We have been working a long time on this project," she said, adding, on behalf of the facilities committee and the Board of Governors, "Thank you; thank you all."
Boyes noted a great turnout of safety services, pointing out the wide range of community members, including the economic development segment, attending the ceremony.
"These are important partners" leading into the future, Boyes said.
"This really is a community effort," Reynolds said, noting he is impressed by the importance of the community component.
The new facility is "a step forward" in how best to serve the community, Reynolds said.
"This is going to be an unbelievable facility," Wright said.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Wooster Community Hospital breaks ground on $34M facility addition
