Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center has started construction on a new emergency room that will close a gap in emergency healthcare services and bring lifesaving treatment closer to residents in north Baton Rouge.
“Today marks another step forward in the effort to restore emergency healthcare services in north Baton Rouge,” said Our Lady of the Lake President and CEO K. Scott Wester. “We appreciate the commitment and leadership of Governor Edwards and all of our partners in reaching this milestone day.”
“My mother is a retired emergency room nurse, so I’ve seen just how important it is for both healthcare workers and communities to have ready access to quality emergency services,” said Gov. John Bel Edwards. “It is a great day for the people of North Baton Rouge who now have a new, lifesaving emergency room on the way. I am grateful to everyone involved in making this possible, especially Our Lady of the Lake and the community leaders who have carried this fight for nearly two years.”
The Our Lady of the Lake North Emergency Room is expected to open in October of 2017. The facility will be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by emergency physicians who specialize in providing comprehensive emergency care for patients with acute illnesses or injuries. Emergency Medicine residents will also be included in the staffing at this location, just as they are at the Our Lady of the Lake emergency rooms at the main campus on Essen Lane and in Livingston Parish.
When complete, the new ER facility will have eight treatment rooms capable of flexing up to 11 treatment spaces. It will be able to provide patients with CT scans and X-rays, and will have a full-service lab and pharmacy on-site. The ER will also include a trauma room, a bariatric room, an isolation room, an ultrasound room, an OB/GYN room and an ambulance bay.
To house the new emergency room, an 8,000-square foot addition is being made to the LSU Health Baton Rouge North Clinic at 5439 Airline Highway in Baton Rouge. The clinic is currently home to an infusion clinic and services for urgent care, primary care and oncology.
“Appropriate ER utilization is a challenge in communities across the country, and housing both urgent care and emergency care under one roof gives us the unique opportunity to help patients navigate receiving the right level of care in the right setting,” said Dr. Shammi Kataria, Associate Medical Director of Emergency Services for Our Lady of the Lake.