The doors of UHS Chenango Memorial Hospital’s new Emergency Department and Walk-In Center opened to the public on Tuesday, January 25. The Hospital’s new Walk-In Center will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Photos from CMH)

NORWICH – After many months of construction and planning, the doors of UHS Chenango Memorial Hospital’s new Emergency Department and Walk-In Center opened to the public on Tuesday, January 25.

“This is an exciting day,” said Dr. Kenneth Herman, Medical Director of Emergency Medical Services at the Norwich hospital. “Years of work and many hands have brought us to this point. It is a vast improvement over our old space. Now it is truly a facility worthy of the patients and community we serve, as well as our providers and staff.”

Herman and his team made their transition from old to new in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

When everything was in place, hospital staff members were given their cue to unmask the lighted signs over the new Emergency Department entrance, and reveal new directional signage both within the facility and around the hospital campus. In addition, a broadcast announcement was made to notify the county’s fire, EMS, police and dispatch agencies of the official go live.

While emergency vehicles will access the new ED via a dedicated emergency vehicle entrance to the North of the facility, all other vehicles should enter the hospital campus via the main driveway on Broad Street/State Highway 12. Instead of turning right, where the old emergency room was located, they’ll turn left to proceed around the hospital.

“We know this is a change, so we’ve done everything we can to clearly mark the new Emergency Department entrance. We’ll also have staff stationed near the old emergency room to direct cars to our new location,” Herman said.

According to the physician leader, the new Emergency Department is more than twice the size of its previous space, and features a large open layout with a central station shared by nurses and providers.

“In addition to the trauma bay, we now have a total of 11 patient rooms with sliding glass doors and curtains for patient privacy, including a full decontamination suite complete with two isolation rooms,” he said.

Located adjacent to the new Emergency Department is the new Walk-In Center, which has its own dedicated entrance. It, too, opened its doors for the first time on Tuesday morning.

The Walk-In Center will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“We’re very excited to introduce this new, needed service to our Chenango community,” said Dr. Kurt Harding, Medical Director for Primary Care Services at UHS Chenango Memorial.

“We’re very fortunate to have experienced medical providers who will be providing the care in the Walk-In, including one of the newest members of our Medical Staff: Guylaine Saintilien, PA-C,” Harding said. “She and her colleagues will be supported by a dedicated team of LPNs, Medical Office Assistants, and Patient Experience Associates.”

According to Harding, the purpose of the Walk-In is to provide convenient, timely treatment for minor illnesses and injuries that would normally be treated in an acute visit to a primary care office. That includes coughs, colds, minor infections, cuts and sprains.

“The Walk-In doesn’t replace the Emergency Department, as it’s not capable of evaluating or treating major illnesses or injury. Nor does it replace the Primary Care office for ongoing comprehensive care,” Harding explained. “Rather it fills the gap between those two settings, giving patients more options for their care depending on their symptoms and situation.”

To help patients determine the most appropriate setting to receive the care they need, UHS Chenango Memorial has created ‘Know Where to Go,’ a quick reference guide that can be found at www.nyuhs.org/knowwheretogo.

Harding credited UHS Chenango Memorial’s Emergency Medicine, Physician Services, Facilities, IT, Environmental Services and other teams for their role in bringing this new clinical offering to life.

“This was a true collaboration of many different areas of our hospital, and an excellent example of the teamwork that lives within our organization,” Harding said. “All of us, no matter our individual roles, are focused on providing the best possible care to this community.”

For more information on UHS Chenango Memorial’s new Emergency Department and Walk-In Center, including a ‘Know Where to Go’ guide, visit www.nyuhs.org.

UHS Chenango Memorial Hospital is a member of United Health Services, a locally owned not-for-profit 916-bed hospital and health care system serving the Greater Binghamton region from more than 40 locations around New York’s Southern Tier.

– From UHS