Southlake to ‘face hallway medicine head-on’ with emergency department expansion

‘This redesigned space creates a more comfortable, supportive environment for patients and supports better patient flow and experiences,’ emergency director says

Southlake Health has completed an expansion of its emergency department to help alleviate overcrowding. 

The project, completed after more than a year of construction, is a major step toward addressing the growing health care needs in our communities, according to Southlake’s emergency department director, Katrina Scott.

“A new patient arrives in the emergency department approximately every four-and-a-half minutes. This redesigned space creates a more comfortable, supportive environment for patients and supports better patient flow and experiences,” she said.

The Newmarket-based hospital utilized a paramedic garage next to the department for the expansion, as Southlake faces ongoing capacity issues. While emergency boasts short wait times to see a doctor, many patients still face long waits for a hospital bed to become available.

Southlake is working toward a second hospital site, but with that being years on the horizon, it needed the expansion to address capacity challenges sooner.

The expansion added more than 2,400 square feet of purpose-built space in the department. Improvements include adding a third desk for patient registration, three additional patient consultation rooms with exam tables, creating a rapid EMS triage booth and more natural light.

“The expansion gives our team the space and privacy they need to assess patients more efficiently and compassionately, while maintaining the highest standards of care,” chief of emergency medicine Dr. Gaurav Puri said.

The project was completed in phases, with the expansion of the space originally completed at the end of January. Over the past several months, phase two has included significant renovation of front-end emergency department areas.

The expansion was funded in part through the fundraising efforts of the Southlake Health Foundation. The foundation has already raised $5.5 million, but that represents only half of their fundraising goal for the project, according to chief development officer Lesley Ring.

“We are truly grateful for the caring and thoughtful support from our donors, which has enabled us to make significant progress on expanding our emergency department,” Ring said. “With the support of our donors, we can face hallway medicine head-on for better patient and provider experiences.”