MRH opens new facilities, part of $30M expansion
Ten patients arrived in the emergency room at Moab Regional Hospital on Wednesday, the first to be seen in new facilities, part of a $30 million dollar expansion of the hospital that includes new trauma rooms, new surgical bays, and room for the hospital to grow in the future.
In the coming months, the remodel will complete expanded clinic space, a retail pharmacy, and expanded diagnostic departments.
“Anyone coming to this facility will know this is a state-of-the-art, quality facility down to the lighting fixtures in the exam rooms,” said MRH Chief Clinical Officer Vicki Gigliotti in a conversation with the Moab Sun News.
Gigliotti’s pride in the new additions is palpable as she points out thoughtful design choices: well-chosen locations for outlets for ventilation, critical equipment that can swing out of the way in emergencies, areas large enough for first responders to move around a patient.
“This place was built with the input of everyone who is a stakeholder. We didn’t just come up with it. We consulted with everyone concerned, including the staff, nursing staff, respiratory therapists, EMS and Classic Air,” Gigliotti said. “They knew exactly what they needed. These rooms were designed to really work well.”
Gigliotti has worked at Moab Regional Hospital for over 30 years, well before the current building was constructed in 2011, and says she knows just how much the new facility will improve outcomes for patients as well as conditions for staff.
“Those of us who live in Moab are able to have access to state-of-the-art trauma rooms,” said Gigliotti. “It’s locals who use these facilities primarily, high season or not, and we can get the best of the best care right here without traveling.”
The 28,000-square-foot expansion includes increasing the number of emergency room bays from 9 to 14 and adding four new trauma rooms, which staff say will reduce patient wait times and accommodate the increased number of patients the facility has seen in recent years as the only Level IV trauma provider in the area. Another 22,000 square feet of the hospital will be renovated.
MRH CEO Jennifer Sadoff explained that the ambitious project was funded by a USDA loan that required every dollar that was refinanced at low rate was matched with a dollar of new construction. To maximize the loan’s impact, part of the expanded space is unfinished and waiting to be developed into whatever space the community needs going forward.
“It’s very expensive to build a new outside wall on a hospital,” she said. “We tried to incorporate some shell space for the future that can either be used to expand the ER or it could be used for additional surgical center space or whatever needs we have in the future without such a large effort.”
At a hospital, part of providing thoughtful services to a community depends on considering the worst things that could happen and preparing for those events. Both Sadoff and Gigliotti touch on the possibility of mass casualty events, outbreaks of contagious diseases, train derailments with radioactive waste, sexual assault exams, and other dire examples.
But those examples are in the context of how confident staff is that the facility can meet those challenges with the new design, which includes emergency triage areas, a decontamination room, a negative-pressure isolation room and a private exam room.
“The expanded space will also let us attract additional specialists and providers,” said Gigliotti. “Anytime we’re able to attract a great health care professional, the community benefits from better services.”
To learn more about the expansion, visit www.mrhmoab.org/expansion.
