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Pindara Private Hospital Magazine - Issue Eight

2016 Doctor Benjamin Walters with the first patient in the new ED, 4.5 year old Connor Lean, who came in with an infected splinter from his cubby house. NEWS Emergency Department Phase One Opens Pindara Private Hospital has opened the first stage of the long-awaited new emergency department. The first stage of the new building, finished in August, is the latest completed phase of a $12-million, three-stage expansion project for the hospital, which began in November 2015 and has so far seen the completion of two new operating theatres. The emergency department will move into the newly finished building in the coming weeks in preparation for the redevelopment of the existing areas and patient waiting lounge. Emergency Department Director, Doctor Benjamin Walters, said that while the department team are looking forward to the new facilities, patients can expect the same reliable, familyorientated, emergency department they have trusted for the last 25 years. “Our long-serving team prides themselves on providing continuity of care for all our patients and maintaining existing relationships with inpatient specialists and local GP networks.” “We will continue to have a full range of specialties including a 24-hour cath lab, interventional electrode physiology, and a paediatric service backed by established onsite in-patient specialist consulting suites.” Once complete, the upgraded emergency department will be triple the size of the original department, which opened in 1987 as the first private emergency department in Australia. “Not only were we the first but we will now also be the biggest private emergency department in Australia - certainly the biggest on the Gold Coast - and the only one with a purpose-built isolation room for infectious disease,” Dr Walters said. The new facility will feature a well-equipped undercover ambulance bay as well as purposebuilt paediatric areas and spacious, adult treatment bays. New administrative, educational and consulting spaces will also be created and a tranquil patient waiting lounge will be the standout centrepiece. “We are committed to developing a stable team of Specialist Emergency Physicians (FACEMs) and Advanced Emergency Medicine Registrars at Pindara and the new areas will assist us to continue the extensive teaching program we have, including further simulation training for all staff,” Dr Walters said. The entire new emergency department is due to be completed well before Christmas. 10 Pindara Magazine 2016


Pindara Private Hospital Magazine - Issue Eight
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