NEW ORLEANS – Ochsner Baptist Medical Center will open a full-service emergency room and all-private wing Monday in Uptown New Orleans. The $12 million facility on Napoleon Avenue also expands Ochsner Baptist’s ICU from three to 12 beds and is in addition to the more than $20 million spent to re-open 22 medical/surgical beds, two endoscopy suites and the Imaging Center in 2006 and 2007.
Emergency services have not been available at the Ochsner Baptist campus since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Ochsner purchased the Baptist campus in October 2006 from Tenet Healthcare and has spent $30 million revitalizing it, and is expected to hire more than 100 new employees to staff the expansion. The facility is still in negotiations to develop a Senior Living Center, expected to open in 2013.
“With local ERs still plagued with frequent overcrowding and diversion problems, Ochsner Baptist’s services will fill a significant need and provide residents with a new, full-service ER closer to home,” says Baptist CEO Robert Wolterman. The 6,000-square-foot ER includes two trauma rooms, nine exam rooms, one triage room, an electronic medical records system, and computerized patient tracking for fast door-to-doctor care and quicker treatment.
Residents of Uptown, Downtown, New Orleans East, Gentilly, Chalmette, Mid City and Lakeview/Lakefront neighborhoods are expected to utilize the new emergency room. “The return of emergency services to the Broadmoor community is a huge step in our recovery process and will provide quality emergency care that’s easily accessible to our families,” says LaToya Cantrell, President of the Broadmoor Improvement Association.
Current campus services now include an expanded 12-bed ICU, six operating rooms, two cardiac catheterization suites and endoscopy suites, an Outpatient Imaging Center, a Laser Vision Center, and more than 300 community physicians.
“A massive undertaking, the $12 million renovation of the Ochsner Baptist Clara Building is an investment in our city’s healthcare and its economy, as all construction was through local contractors,” says Warner Thomas, Ochsner Health System President and Chief Operating Officer. The architectural firm Rozas/Ward Architects handled architectural design and remodeling and Construction South was the general contractor. Additional improvements to the Ochsner Baptist campus include a family chapel, physician’s dining area, new cafeteria, and improved boiler and chiller infrastructures.
A ribbon cutting ceremony is planned for 10 a.m. Monday. Following guided tours, the ER will officially open for patient care at 10:30 a.m.
