Wellstar Kennestone to open new emergency room, one of the largest in U.S.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to put pressure on health care facilities across Georgia, Wellstar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta marked the completion of its new emergency room, the second largest in the country.

The new $126 million emergency room will be open to care for patients on July 23, said Mary Chatman, president of Wellstar Kennestone and Windy Hill hospitals, in an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The new facility brings the hospital’s capacity to 663 beds, with 166 of those being in the emergency department. Rooms in the emergency department could be used to treat COVID-19 patients if there is an overwhelming demand, Chatman said.

The facility was originally supposed to open in early May, but that was delayed because of the pandemic. As of Thursday, the state reported 131,275 total confirmed cases and 3.104 deaths, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.

A ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday marked the end of a two-year construction process. The seeds of the project were planted more than a decade ago, said Candice Saunders, president and CEO of the Wellstar Health System.

“It almost overwhelms me that we’re here today to open up this facility,” Saunders said.

Gov. Brian Kemp and first lady Marty Kemp were on hand to help cut the ceremonial ribbon. The governor praised Wellstar for its “forward thinking” approach in expanding its emergency department.

“It’s a great asset for the community and a great asset for our state,” Kemp said.

The hospital’s emergency department has now nearly quintupled in space, going from about 55,000 square feet to 263,000. The only larger emergency department is in Lakeland, Florida.

The department includes special features designed to contain contagious disease, including negative pressure rooms and a decontamination space. All new patient rooms were designed to minimize any dust or bacteria buildup that could negatively affect a patient.

“It’s the subtle things that are taken for granted,” Chatman said.

The new facility has a capacity of 220,000 patients annually and the “flexibility” to adjust how it serves patients in the future, Saunders said at the ribbon-cutting.

“We wanted to make sure to build not only to the current needs of the community, but that it had a flexible design so we could adapt to needs as they change,” Saunders said.

The facility includes “dedicated trauma bay” where ambulances can get close to an underground entrance for quick transport of critical patients, Chatman said. There are also more triage areas lobby wait times for patients can be minimized.