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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend January 30, 2005 Artist Adele Hiles has decorated pediatric exam rooms in Rogue Valley Medical Center�s new emergency department with colorful murals. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Mural support RVMC’s expanded emergency department draws upon art and science By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune Kids who visit Rogue Valley Medical Center’s new emergency department will have seals, elephants, foxes and frogs for company while doctors treat their ills. Ashland artist Adele Hiles painted the animals on the walls of the four pediatric exam rooms in the hospital’s new emergency department, which will open during the wee hours of Feb. 9. Each room’s mural has a theme, Hiles explained as she brushed highlights onto the back of a seal with puppy-dog eyes and a contented smile. There are creatures from a tropical rain forest; a North American woodland; an African savanna and a seascape. "I wanted (children) to get to look into the eyes of something interesting and engaging," said Hiles, whose murals can be seen in several Ashland stores. "There should be a good mood in here, rather than just an empty room." Advertisement Creating a healthy atmosphere for both patients and staff was a primary goal when the hospital designed the new emergency department, said Heather Freiheit, RVMC’s emergency services coordinator. "We’re trying to create an environment where we can take better care of patients and ourselves," Freiheit said. "The ED is a pretty stressful place to work." Adding space to meet the region’s growing demand for emergency care was also a prime concern for hospital administrators. The volume of emergency patients at Jackson County’s three hospitals grew by an average of 34.8 percent over the five years between 1998 and 2002, according to statistics from the Oregon Hospital Association. RVMC’s growth during that period (34.9 percent) nearly mirrored the three-hospital average. The hospital had long since outgrown its original 1958 emergency department, which was designed to handle 15,000 visits per year. Add-ons have provided space to treat more patients, but hospital administrators decided to rebuild the department completely as part of a three- year, $100 million expansion and reconstruction project. The new emergency department will have capacity to handle 48,000 patient visits, and it can be expanded to handle 60,000 visits. There will be 27 treatment rooms in the new space, compared to 19 in the old building, and the rooms will be larger to provide more working space for doctors, nurses, medical technicians and their equipment. The new space includes features that reflect the needs of a growing community in a changing world. There will be rooms exclusively for psychiatric patients, a decontamination room for people who have been exposed to toxic chemicals, and rooms with negative air pressure to prevent the spread of any deadly diseases that might be brought into the hospital. Freiheit said the three rooms designed for psychiatric patients will be furnished with chairs and televisions to suit the needs of people who have mental distress instead of physical ailments. She noted that the hospital gets psychiatric patients "every day" now that the Oregon Health Plan no longer provides mental health care. There will also be a larger lobby and waiting area with a large expanse of glass that looks out on a garden space. For the next week, workers will be putting the finishing touches on the space and stocking the rooms with equipment and supplies. Freiheit said the midweek opening was chosen because Wednesday is usually one of the lightest patient-traffic days. Someone without much experience in the ways of emergency rooms initially scheduled a weekend move. Freiheit pointed out that weekends are the busiest time in the ED. "You want to create the least amount of disruption," she said. Getting there Finding your way to Rogue Valley Medical Center’s new emergency department won’t be difficult — especially if you know the way to the old ED. The entrance to the new ED lies a few steps from the old ED entrance, and it’s at the top of the same traffic ramp. All you have to do is follow the same route and turn left at the top of the ramp instead of right. For those who haven’t made the trip before, the emergency department can be reached from either Barnett Road or Siskiyou Boulevard by turning onto Medical Center Drive and following the signs. RVMC’s new short-stay (outpatient) surgery unit opens this weekend. X-ray and other medical imaging departments will be opening in new quarters over the next few days. Patients trying to find their way during construction should go to the main Barnett Road entrance and ask for directions at the front desk, said Michelle Halfhill of the marketing department. Several other facets of the construction project are scheduled for completion later this year. New patient rooms in a four-story elliptical "bed tower" are expected to open by late summer, and a new intensive care unit with 16 additional beds should open in the fall. Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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