Hospital update...

Brother Hight commented on my previous post asking what the latest was on CRH. So, I thought I would share what "little" I know about it!
Our Emergency Department is now officially open for business! Yea! It officially opened today and they gave Medic-1 a big send off as they rolled out of town. The ER is open but it is still basically like the Medic-1 unit, only inside the hospital. There are no inpatient services so they will still have to send people to other hospitals for admittances.
Most of the outpatient services are now open at different locations through the city. They are in "hopes" to have the entire inpatient services back up and running by the end of October! YEA!!! We are keeping our fingers crossed!
So, for now I will keep driving up I-65 to deliver babies at St. Francis!!! :o)
Here is a press release that I found on the www.crh.org website this evening! You should check out the website sometime. There are a couple of cool videos of the flood on there!
Here you go Brother Hight!!!

August 4th - Interim Emergency Department Opens For Release on August 4, 2008
Interim Emergency Department Opens at Columbus Regional HospitalServices mark return within hospital building less than two months following the flood. Columbus Regional Hospital has opened an interim emergency department within its main hospital building. The department is staffed 24/7 by Columbus emergency medicine physicians and hospital nurses and staff. The physicians and nurses have been working in a mobile emergency unit on the hospital campus until the building was ready. The move back within the building will provide more space and privacy for emergency patients."This is a great milestone for our hospital and community as we are able to return to a portion of our building less than two months after flood and storm damage closed the building," says Jim Bickel, Chief Executive Officer at Columbus Regional Hospital. "The support and cooperation by our medical staff and employees throughout this recovery process demonstrates their commitment to always doing the very best for patients."The emergency department is an interim service because patients needing overnight care or surgical care will still need to be transported to other hospitals. Columbus Regional Hospital will continue reconstruction efforts in order to reopen inpatient and surgical services back within the building in late October. Following the return of these services, the emergency department will be able to resume its full service capabilities."Our emergency physicians and staff are pleased that we can once again offer care within the building, and our next milestone will be in October when our full range of services is available," says Dr. Jason May, medical director of Emergency Medicine at Columbus Regional Hospital. Reopening a portion of the hospital building required a rigorous process to ensure that the building is safe and meets all regulatory requirements to provide patient care. Columbus Regional Hospital has had a mobile emergency department unit on the hospital campus since June 23 provided by Carolinas Medical Center's MED-1. The mobile emergency unit has seen more than 2,300 patients while in Columbus including the first baby delivered in the unit .The Hospital Foundation's flood recovery campaign to restore the emergency department has met its goal of $2 million. "We thank the leadership of the Foundation Board and the support and generosity by individuals, businesses, hospitals, and others which allowed us to prioritize reopening emergency services within the building," says Bickel.