Plans for the renovated emergency room and operating room at Salem Township Hospital are ahead of schedule with work now expected to begin the spring.
Salem Township Hospital CEO James Timpe says the plans are still for eight emergency rooms, some with specialized services, and four operating rooms on the bottom floor of the hospital.
“Now we picked our surfaces, what the rooms should look like, all the things that are needed to best take care of our patients,” Timpe said. “They’re putting together that plan, and the next step is going to be the beginning of demolition in the spring. We have an area that used to be our rural health center in the first floor of the hospital. That area has to be completely demolished inside the hospital. That will allow us to go through the different phases of the program without impacting patient care.”
Timpe says an addition is also still being planned.
“There will be an addition adjacent to the emergency room out into the parking lot. It will be about 2200 square feet added onto the hospital at that level. Within that addition is going to be the sterile processing that is required in order to do surgery.”
Timpe says a $17-million cap has been placed on the project with the entire project paid for from the hospital’s operating revenue.
