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At 3 a.m. Wednesday morning, Robin Voss, Forsyth Medical Centers director of emergency and trauma services and a small army of medical center personnel, will close the current Emergency Department at Forsyth and simultaneously open the Medical Centers new $18 million, 55,000 square foot, 80-bed ED. The new facility is almost double the size of the current ED and will be the largest in the state, built to handle 110,000 patients a year.

According to Voss, doctors treating patients in the old ED at 3 a.m. will complete those treatments and arrange for patients to be discharged, admitted to the hospital or transferred to the new ED for further treatment or observation.

"In just a very short time we are going to close down the busiest ED in the region and open an amazing new facility, without skipping a beat," says Voss. "Were coordinating with every department in the hospital, Forsyth County Emergency Medical Services, regional ambulance and Critical Care Transport providers, law enforcement, other medical facilities and a lot of other local, state and federal groups who need to be kept informed during this process. Weve been working on this plan for more than two years, so now its going to be crunch time."

The current Emergency Department was originally constructed in 1980 and enlarged in 1996 to 24,000 square feet. At that time, the ED was designed to accommodate 56,000 patient visits per year. Beginning in 1999, however, patient visits in the ED began to increase, and in 2001 the treatment area of the current ED was expanded again by 1,400 square feet.

"The new Forsyth Medical Center Emergency Department is 55,000 square feet or double the size of the current ED," says Voss. "It will be the largest in the state. Currently we serve 80,000 patients a year, second only to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte."

Voss says the new ED is designed to shorten wait times, provide faster critical care response, improve overall quality of care, better manage costs and meet the growing needs of the region for ED services. She says Forsyth Medical Center will also add additional jobs in the ED. "In addition to the high level of care available at our new ED, the most important message we need to get into the community right now is the change of location and new entrance to the facility," she says. "The new ED patient entrance is now on the south side of the hospital with much faster access from Silas Creek Parkway. The new location also places it closer to the hospitals other critical care services."

Forsyth Medical Center is one of seven hospitals that are part of Novant Health, a not-for-profit healthcare system based in North Carolina. In addition to Forsyth Medical Center, other hospital affiliates include Medical Park Hospital in Winston-Salem and Thomasville Medical Center in Thomasville; also Presbyterian Hospital, Presbyterian Orthopaedic Hospital, Presbyterian Hospital Matthews and Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville in the Charlotte area. Other facilities and programs of Novant Health include three philanthropic foundations, two nursing home and senior residential facilities, physician clinics, outpatient surgery and diagnostic centers, rehabilitation programs and community health outreach programs.

Novant Health has been nationally recognized as the "Best in Industry for Working Mothers" by Working Mother Magazine and one of the "Top 40 Family-Friendly NC Companies" by Charlotte Parent and Piedmont Parent magazines. Additionally, Novant Health was named to the 2003 SMG Top 100 Integrated Healthcare Networks in the country.