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Lancaster General will add temporary building to expand Emergency Department patient capacity

LANCASTER — Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health announced Tuesday that it will add a temporary, 2,500-square-foot building to the north side of the Eme...
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Lancaster General will add temporary building to expand Emergency Department patient capacity

LANCASTER — Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health announced Tuesday that it will add a temporary, 2,500-square-foot building to the north side of the Emergency Department at Lancaster General Hospital, to provide additional patient capacity, the hospital said in a press release.

The state Department of Health recently approved a modular, factory-built building, which will include nine treatment bays, a nurse’s station and restroom facilities. It is expected to open in July, the hospital said.

The building will deliver the same patient experience and quality provided in the existing Emergency Department. With the temporary building, the Emergency Department will have 63 treatment bays.

The press release did not specify whether the addition of the temporary building was related to the closure of the former Lancaster Regional Medical Center, which will be completed at the end of the month.

Lancaster General says similar modular buildings are made of the same materials used in site-built construction. They meet all local, state, and national codes for commercial construction, ensuring the detailed quality every medical facility demands. The building will be manufactured by Johnson Portables of Michigan. The company has extensive experience in building adaptable and durable buildings that can be erected and fully functioning within weeks, offering shelter, electrical service, heating/cooling, and bathroom facilities.

The building will be located on the hospital’s emergency ramp and built in stages. The Emergency Department’s main patient entrance will not change, but ambulances that use the Duke Street ramp will need to turn around on the ramp, and exit from it.

LGH’s existing Emergency Department, designed for 90,000 annual visits, saw 117,000 visits last fiscal year. The last major expansion of the department occurred in 2000-01. The temporary building, its medical equipment and technology, and connection to the hospital will cost $3 million.

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