Memorial ER moves to temporary space while new unit built

PAWTUCKET – Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island moved its emergency department to temporary quarters in the MacColl building – former home of an inpatient rehabilitation unit – on Jan. 29 to clear the space for construction of new emergency facilities.
Completion of the new emergency department is scheduled for the fall.
Built in 1987, the emergency department has seen its patient volume grow and is experiencing challenges in introducing current technology in a space designed two decades ago.
The new facility, the hospital said, will improve patient privacy, confidentiality and comfort. Patient-care areas will be arranged in a horseshoe pattern, rather than in rows, with walls rather than curtains separating patients.
State-of-the-art technology, including electronic medical records and bedside registration, will be fully implemented, Memorial said, and disaster response capabilities will be enhanced with a special room for decontamination purposes.