The new ETC offers patients a personal, private experience in quiet, non-threatening areas that encourage family interaction. It offers emergency care professionals the space to deliver services more efficiently and more effectively.

The focus of the ETC is to provide patient- and family-centered care while offering rapid, effective treatment, giving patients the best possible outcome. The multidisciplinary staff is trained to respond to emergencies. They know that speed, how rapidly they provide the right treatment, is vital for a favorable outcome.

The treatment rooms were designed with quiet, dignity, privacy, and flexibility in mind. "The curtains are gone. The new rooms have doors and are private and quiet. Patients are not aware of the hustle outside their room that is part of normal emergency room life. In addition to the latest equipment and technology, rooms feature flat-screen televisions and half have private bathrooms," says Dave Walz, PA-C, project facilitator.

Instead of being huddled behind the curtains surrounding their loved ones, family members, with permission, can stay in the treatment rooms or take advantage of the wait-time activities, including flat-screen television, computers, and a soothing aquarium in the reception areas.

While some rooms are designated for special services—pediatrics, dentistry, psychiatry—planners wanted to be sure that rooms would be versatile enough to treat a variety of problems. While designated a pediatric room, Walz says, it can also be used as a cardiac treatment room if that's what the need is.

Construction began in February 2005 and cost about $30 million dollars. It is three times larger than the old one and increases annual capacity to 60,000 patients. The ETC remains part of Eastern Iowa's only designated Level ITrauma Center.

Out with the old, in with the new

Old ETC

• 21,000 square-feet built in 1978
• Built to accommodate 20,000 patient visits annually

New ETC

• 60,000 square feet
• Built to accommodate 60,000 patient visits annually

New ETC features

28 private treatment rooms, half with private bathrooms

• Three major critical care rooms
• Three specialized trauma rooms
• One specialty room for eye and dental emergencies
• Special accommodations for:
• Sexual assault victims
• Bariatric patients
• Patients with chest pain
• Urgent care
• Psychiatric emergencies
• Pediatrics

The new treatment rooms are versatile and can be used for a variety of purposes, determined by patient needs.

Children who need emergency care will be taken immediately from the reception area to a treatment room whenever possible.