Copyright CBS News
Trinity Health is moving forward with some big upgrades to its Ann Arbor hospital. The health system says it is revamping its emergency department over the next several years to meet the growing health care demands, investing $60.5 million. The project includes renovations of the existing space with state-of-the-art facilities and equipment and expanding the emergency department to prevent overcrowding in the future, according to Trinity Health. It's been more than two decades since the Ann Arbor hospital last overhauled its emergency department. "Our intent is to collocate and consolidate all of our imaging modalities into one section of our emergency department. It's going to create a much more efficient throughput for patients," said hospital president Alonzo Lewis. The plan is to add 13,100 square feet to the existing 44,600 square foot department, which is equivalent to a football field. The planning and design phase is already complete. "Eighty-five thousand visits a year, 40% of those visits never make it into a private room or private care setting, and we're going to solve for that. We will actually be doubling our clinical space from a room perspective and adding an additional 59 private rooms to our existing 61," Lewis said. "This addition will help us better care for our patients in a comfortable setting." Construction is expected to begin within the next 30 days with the goal of completion by late 2028. Even though construction crews will be in and out over the next three years, Trinity says its ER department will remain fully operational and will not impact patients needing emergency care.
