Murray will visit Smith & Wesson Thursday afternoon to highlight job creation and economic development.
02/10/11 Springfield Republican Photo by Mark M.Murray - Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray, right gets a tour of the new emregency room under construction at the Mercy Medical center thursday morning. Daniel P. Moen, left President and C.E.O of Sisters of Providence Health Systems. and Stanley Rogalski, center Vice President of Support Services, lead the tour. SPRINGFIELD –Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray was clearly impressed Thursday morning as he viewed the efforts being made to bring Mercy Medical Center’s new $1.3 million Emergency Department to fruition.
The project, which will increase the number of beds in the department from 28 to 43, is expected to be completed in April.
“I was here a few months ago,” Murray said. “To see the progress here is really great. People from Springfield are being able to have a first class facility -- another first class facility.”
Murray, accompanied by Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, met with Daniel P. Moen, who assumed his new position as president and chief executive officer of the Sisters of Providence Health System in January.
“I am thankful the project was underway before I got here,” Moen said. “Improving the patient experience is what it is all about.”
Annual patient visits to Mercy’s emergency department have grown from 55,000 in 2005 to 80,000 today, officials said.
Along with increased beds, the expansion and renovation of the new department is designed around Mercy’s adoption of the “Nurse First” model for emergency care that was introduced earlier this year.
Ryan White, RN and nurse manager at Mercy, said the new model puts the incoming patient in contact with a nurse right off who immediately assesses their condition and stays in contact through treatment and discharge.
The Nurse First model has shown to improve both patient and nurse satisfaction, White said. “That’s the key to success,” he said, adding that Mercy is the first hospital in Western Massachusetts to adopt the model.
Design improvements also improve the department’s ability to care for stroke patients, White said. Plans also call for a four-bed behavioral health unit to be located in a private and secure area of the department.
Murray’s swing through Western Massachusetts started Thursday with a tour of the Berkshire Hills Music Academy in South Hadley and will finish this afternoon with a visit to Smith & Wesson to highlight job creation and economic development.