Press Releases: Northwest
January 24, 2008
Clackamas County's Largest Hospital Emergency Department to Open Feb. 2 in New Addition
Part of Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center's $300 million expansion
CLACKAMAS, Ore. – To meet growing demand for emergency services in fast-growing Clackamas County, Kaiser Permanente has built a completely new Emergency Department at Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center.
The new unit will begin caring for emergency patients starting at 7 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 2.
Twice the size of Kaiser Sunnyside's old Emergency Department, the new unit will have 40 treatment rooms as well as special rooms where arriving patients can be assessed by medical staff. Some rooms were designed to meet the needs of children, the obese, and women needing obstetrical or gynecological attention. Each room has glass doors instead of curtains to provide greater privacy.
Visits to Kaiser Sunnyside by people seeking emergency medical care had been rising rapidly in recent years as the area's population grew. That prompted Kaiser Permanente to build a 22,000-foot addition to the hospital's east side to accommodate the new Emergency Department. The opening comes just in time. Visits to the Emergency Department had surged by 25 percent in 2007 over the year before. There are now over 100,000 visits a year to Kaiser Sunnyside's Emergency Department.
The parking lot reserved for emergency patients was built on the site of a laboratory building demolished to make way for the new services. Family members will now be able to drop an emergency patient right at the covered front entrance and then go park.
Patients will have a more spacious waiting room with large windows to bring in natural light. The carpet was chosen because it doesn't emit harmful fumes and will be taken back and recycled by the manufacturer when it is worn out.
The public is invited to a preview open house on Wednesday, Jan. 30 from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center is located at 10180 SE Sunnyside Road in Clackamas.
