IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. — The Iredell Health System is set to begin its first construction project that will expand the emergency department and critical care unit at Iredell Memorial Hospital on Wednesday.
Construction will start at 8 a.m. and will impact traffic flow around certain areas, limiting access. People coming to the hospital for the emergency department, imaging, or to visit a patient will go to the Lot E parking lot using the Brookdale Drive entrance. Parking areas at the main entrance, or Entrance A, will stay open as usual.
The health system is planning to expand the emergency department by over 4,800 square feet and the critical care unit by over 11,000 square feet. A renovation of the existing critical care unit is also included in the plan.
The emergency department expansion will add ten new treatment spaces, like multiple new exam rooms, three large critical care rooms, and four secure behavioral health holding rooms with private entrances and exits.
After the expansion, the critical care unit will have 11 new rooms added to the 16 they currently have, including four that have bariatric ceiling lifts, allowing hospital staff to safely lift and move patients. Also, the new rooms can be transformed into negative pressure isolation rooms in case of a contagious disease outbreak like COVID-19.
Existing critical care unit rooms will be renovated as another portion of the hospital’s expansion; the rooms will be larger with new equipment and new beds.
The outdoor construction is expected to be finished by the summer of 2024, and interior renovations will be finished by the end of 2024.
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