Beyond the Building: The Campaign for Newport Hospital
Newport Hospital celebrates ribbon cutting for transformed Emergency Department
Newport Hospital celebrated the expansion and renovation of its emergency department – and the naming of the unit as the John A. and Hope H. van Beuren Emergency Department – during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 14 that was attended by more than 100 people, including hospital leaders, community supporters and the philanthropic family whose van Beuren Charitable Foundation has been an extraordinary partner in the project.
The $12.5 million project, which is nearing completion, is almost doubling the number of treatment rooms from 17 to 29 beds, and increasing the overall footprint to over 20,000sq. ft. with a capacity to server 40,000+ patients annually. The completed project will realize a state of the art, patient inspired environment of care, to best meet the growing and evolving healthcare needs of Newport County. Key innovations include a dedicated Behavioral Health Pod, a dedicated Clinical Decision Unit for observation of patients, Results Lounge, and a tripling of the Triage Space, while ensuring the advancement and excellence of care. The entire Emergency Department expansion, main entrance, lounges and waiting areas, incorporate evidence-based design features, which support and advance excellence in healthcare delivery and the comfort and well-being of patients and their loved ones.
The last substantial renovation to the Emergency Department took place more than 20 years ago when the capacity of the space was deemed to be about 22,000 patient visits a year. An aging population and growth in tourism have swelled annual patient visits to 33,000 a year. This phenomenal demand sparked a community fundraising campaign that was so successful it allowed the hospital to break ground in the summer of 2018 on a remarkably ambitious overhaul of the unit. It’s estimated that the new space will accommodate more than 40,000 patient visits a year.