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Big ER upgrade at Alvarado Medical Center soon to open

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erica mary
Big ER upgrade at Alvarado Medical Center soon to open

Alvarado Medical Center emergency room employees conduct a code blue exercise in the hospital’s new emergency department building on Tuesday, Nov. 26.

It is a vision that has been discussed at Alvarado for decades and one that registered nurse Chris Cummings, who has worked in the existing emergency department continuously since 1978, said he thought might never arrive.

“The size, the number of beds, the technology and systems that are built in and out of the way, it just gives a sense of pride.”

Emergency room work, after all, is unpredictable and tends to send workers rushing to the bedside on a moment’s notice.

In addition to having nearly three times the square footage, the new $14 million facility, which is the first expansion of Alvarado’s footprint since its western tower was completed in the late 1980s, includes 20 beds, nearly double the number available in the existing ER which will be remodeled and put back into use, likely as a “fast track” urgent care unit for those with less-severe injuries and illnesses.

Designed to serve mainly as a surgical hospital and with a history of high-flying cardiac and cardiovascular care, Alvarado is moving more directly into the role of community hospital, seeking to serve those who live closest to its campus just south of Interstate 8 and just west of Lake Murray Boulevard.

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