Expansion underway at Cox Monett ER

A new reception desk (shown in this rendering from Sam A. Winn & Associates), additional treatment rooms and a dedicated trauma room are all part of the renovation of the Cox Monett ER. The project is set to be complete in early 2015.

Work is well underway on a renovation that will make the Cox Monett Emergency Department more welcoming and comfortable for patients, and more efficient for staff members.

As soon as patients arrive, they’ll see the changes. A new registration window will allow multiple patients to check in at once and a nurse will be stationed at the front to begin triage immediately.

“The entire project is patient focused,” says Darren Bass, executive director at Cox Monett. “This will help us improve patient privacy, patient comfort and patient flow through the department.”

The $980,000 renovation will create seven private, 140-square-foot treatment rooms, along with a dedicated trauma room. Currently, the ER has four rooms of this size, along with three smaller spaces, some of which use curtains or accordion dividers rather than walls.

“In addition to being better for patients, this will improve the staff experience as well,” Bass says. “When you give care in an undersized room, sometimes you can’t look a patient in the eyes as you document, sometimes you have your back to them. This will allow staff members to have a more comfortable room to treat our patients.”

Bass says the expansion is accompanied by a reconfigured triage process designed to get patients back to rooms and through the ED as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the dedicated 335-square-foot trauma room will allow Cox Monett to care for select trauma patients, many of whom are currently transferred to other facilities.

The renovation will also locate the Security department between the ED and the waiting room, so officers will be easily accessible if needed to manage situations arising in the ED.

As we head into the holiday season, crews will be completing the current phases of the project and will begin working on the registration area soon. The entire project is scheduled to be complete in March 2015.

“We have a phenomenal, highly engaged ED staff,” Bass says. “When this project is completed, they’ll have even more of a sense of ownership and pride in our facility.”