Medical West holds ribbon-cutting ceremony for freestanding ER
Medical West, an affiliate of the UAB Health System, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and gave public tours today, Monday, May 4 at 9 a.m. in Hoover for the first Freestanding Emergency Department (FED) in the state of Alabama.
The 24,342 square foot facility, next to the new Sprouts near the intersection of Alabama 150 and Interstate 459 in Hoover, will begin accepting patients on Tuesday, May 5 at 7 a.m. Hoover city and Medical West officials at the ribbon-cutting said the free-standing emergency department brings much-needed medical services to the growing Hoover area and could help save lives.
Medical West is projecting between 12,000 and 15,000 emergency visits per year.
“Medical West is excited to open the very first freestanding emergency department in Alabama right here in Hoover,” said Dr. William Ferniany, UAB Health System CEO and board chairman of Medical West. “It’s a home run for Medical West and Hoover... a facility that will make citizens feel safer, help recruit businesses by having sophisticated medical care close by, and without a doubt will save lives.”
Keith Pennington, CEO and President of Medical West, said the facility will have 50 employees on staff, and will be open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
“Medical West is excited to take the leadership role in being the first to offer this new service that will expand healthcare access to the growing Hoover community- the largest community in Alabama without acute healthcare services,” Pennington said. “I am so proud of our team of Alabama firms that helped turn this vision into a reality. We are thrilled to bring cutting edge emergency medicine to this area.”
The project was a joint effort of the City of Hoover and several Birmingham-based companies: Harbert Realty Services, developer of the FED; Medical Properties Trust, Inc. the owner and financier; Brasfield and Gorrie, the general contractor; and Sims Architectural Studio, Inc., the architect. The facility cost about $13.5 million and has 10 exam rooms, two trauma rooms, and a 21-bed emergency department.
It will provide an array of medical services, including X-ray, general and vascular ultrasound, EKG and laboratory services.
Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey said the city is proud to be home of Alabama’s first freestanding emergency department, and excited that Brookwood Medical Center will soon break ground on another Freestanding Emergency Department on U.S. 280.
“This will truly save lives. We will never be able to quantify how many, but it’s huge for our city,” Ivey said.
“The whole building is beautiful and well planned out,” he added, specifically mentioning a helipad in the back of the facility allowing Medical West to easily transport victims needing urgent care to other Birmingham area hospitals.
Medical West officials said the Freestanding Emergency Department will offer the same quality of service provided by its existing emergency room and emergency physicians in Bessemer, including convenient outpatient diagnostic services.
“The FED is staffed with board-certified emergency physicians and nurses,” said Monty Gooch, RN, Director of the Medical West FED. “We have state of the art CT scanning, ultrasound and digital X-ray, as well as a full-service lab- all provided 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to meet the needs of the community. We are able to stabilize and arrange transport to more definitive care, should the need arise.”
Harbert Realty Services, the developer of the project, has successfully developed a number of medical facilities for clients and its own portfolio.
“We are very pleased to be working with such great partners as Medical West, Medical Properties Trust, Brasfield & Gorrie and SAS on this project, said Norman Tynes, executive vice president at Harbert Realty Services. “As the first Freestanding Emergency Department for the state of Alabama, this development is a trendsetter for the region, and we are thrilled to be part of it.”