Officials with LewisGale Regional Health System held a groundbreaking ceremony Monday to celebrate the beginning of construction at 1423 West Ruritan Road in Roanoke to make room for a new freestanding emergency room, the second of its kind in Southwest Virginia.
Named LewisGale Medical Center Blue Hills ER, the nearly 10,000-square-foot freestanding emergency room will be staffed with board-certified emergency room physicians and nurses 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and will provide the same services provided in an emergency room that is housed within the walls of a hospital.
“In an emergency situation, every minute matters,” said Steven Pasternak, MD, emergency department medical director. “Having access to unparalleled medical care at a facility nearby 24 hours a day, seven days a week will save lives and enhance patient recovery.”
“We are pleased to welcome LewisGale’s new free standing emergency room at its second location in Roanoke County, said Dan O’Donnell, Roanoke County Administrator. “This new facility enhances service delivery in a strategic location on the busy 460 corridor and provides high quality innovative medical services to an underserved area of the County.”
Designed to meet the community’s needs, the new center will feature many attributes, some of which include:
- Walk-in and ambulance entrances
- Eight private treatment rooms
- CT capabilities
- Digital ultrasound and diagnostic x-rays
- On-site laboratory
“With a commitment to patient care as our focus, we are filling a gap by bringing high-quality emergency services to this part of the Greater Roanoke Valley which has seen significant growth,” said Lance Jones, market president of the health system. “This facility will also have the same advanced medical technologies and life-saving services that are available at our main ER on the Medical Center campus and at our freestanding Cave Spring ER. With this new ER, patients who live and work in this area will be able to receive services faster, resulting in better health outcomes.”
The facility, affiliated with LewisGale Medical Center, will employ over 30 staff including emergency physicians and nurses. The new center is targeting a January 2022 opening.
