Banner Community Hospital opens new ER addition

Banner Churchill Community Hospital welcomed the public to tour the completion of its first phase of renovations within the Emergency Department on Wednesday.

With a 5,545 square foot addition onto the existing 4,848 square foot emergency department, the first phase of the project features 16 patient rooms and 14 fully-private exam rooms. Treating 20,000 patients a year, the department was too cramped for certain workspaces and required patients to sit in hallways at times.

The expansion and renovation project, which represents a $10 million investment into the hospital by the nonprofit Banner Health, broke ground in August 2017 and is anticipated to be fully completed by the end of the year.

The renovations will be a new shift for the community, said Chief Executive Officer Rob Carnahan.

Branch representatives of Banner from Arizona and Colorado also attended the ribbon cutting ceremony.

“We started this project five years ago,” he said. “It’s an incredible time for the community and we’re at that time now where it’s a feel good moment.”

There’s also additional room with an electrocardiogram (EKG) to serve patients suffering from a heart attack. According to the American Heart Association, the goal is to treat a patient with an EKG within 10 minutes of arrival. Emergency Department Manager and RN Brittany Hert said the department achieves that goal within 5-7 minutes.

“I’m delighted to represent the emergency team and serve our community in a larger space,” she said.

Banner’s family medicine doctor Brent Aikin also celebrated his wedding anniversary the day of the ribbon cutting ceremony, and his birthday the day prior.

To have Banner debut its first phase completion triples the celebration, he said. “This facility is about the community and what we’ll provide,” he said. “What I’ve learned during my career is things at the ER can go flying but quality care is our goal as we’ve done in the past.”

Cindy Greer, a nurse at Banner for 23 years and ER for 17, said the construction was worth the wait.

“This is my second home,” she said. “Patients we see are like extended family. We have outgrown the space and I feel like a little kid looking at a presents under the Christmas tree waiting to open them.”

Newly painted walls also feature landscape photos by local photographer and Fallon resident Barb Swetzof Lund.

The new addition will open to patients Thursday, June 21.