Courtesy of Glens Falls Hospital
By Rod Bacon
Construction is underway on a major expansion and renovation of the Sheridan Emergency Department at Glens Falls Hospital.
This is the first significant upgrade to the department in nearly 30 years, which was helped at the time with a generous gift from David S. and Janet R. Sheridan.
“My parents chose the emergency department because it’s one of the places that serves the greatest number of people in the hospital’s coverage area,” said Davene Sheridan Brown, one of four Sheridan children.
Part of the funding for the expansion is being underwritten by community support, and the Sheridan Foundation, which was created in 2000, has stepped up with a lead gift of $3 million. Since 1986 the Sheridan family has contributed $5.5 million to the hospital.
A campaign to raise $15 million of the $25 million goal was kicked off in September at “An Evening to Savor” gala on the hospital grounds with a view of the emergency department.
Other lead gifts announced that evening were $2.25 million from the Hoopes Family Foundation, $1 million from Susan Conley Salice in honor of Joe and Theresa Conley and Family, and $1 million from the Charles R. Wood Foundation. Since that evening the Glens Falls Foundation added another lead gift of $250,000.
“We are fortunate that we continue to receive significant support from our community,” said F. Raymond Agnew, CFRE {R}, vice president of hospital and community engagement.
The hospital is seeking additional funding from public sources so that no additional debt is incurred.
The expansion will add 7,000 square feet to the emergency department, increasing its size by 40 percent. While a general contractor has not been retained, preliminary work is being done outside, according to Agnew.
“We’re reconfiguring roadways and parking lots, and getting the footings down for the new external portico,” he said. “No interior work has been started yet.”
Those contractors currently on the job include O’Connor Construction, Brownell Electric, Afsco Fence, Catalfamo Construction, and ATI Access Control.
Agnew noted that a larger emergency department will require staff increases but exactly how many people and in what capacities hasn’t been determined.
“The hospital, like many other entities, is facing staffing challenges,” Agnew said. “However, we have an exceptional corporate culture here so I think we’ll be successful in attracting the best people available.”
Mark Behan, chairman and founder of Glens Falls-based Behan Communications and co-chair of the Emergency Department Campaign Steering Committee, was master of ceremonies at the gala. Behan has been a member of the hospital’s Board of Governors for more than 20 years, serving for a time as vice chair.
“I see this as indispensable to the future of our community,” he said. “A great hospital has to have a great emergency department, and these days the emergency department is really the front door to the hospital. And this is a particularly busy one with more than forty-thousand visits a year. The hospital serves an area that is about the size of Connecticut.”
Behan noted that almost every family has had some experience with an emergency department. Whether it’s a child who gets hurt, someone injured at a sporting event, or an elderly person in frail health the emergency department provides a safety net of care for those in the community.
Glens Falls Hospital President and CEO Paul Scimeca echoed Behan’s sentiments about the importance of a strong emergency department. In a video issued by the hospital, he noted that they serve a population spread across a 6,000-square-mile area. He said the next full-service hospital with an emergency room to the north is 114 miles away.
“That’s a huge region of people that when they need care they come down to Glens Falls and depend upon the Sheridan Emergency Department to be there to respond to their needs,” he said.
He added that the region is attractive to visitors year-round, but particularly in the summer.
“Travelers from all over the state as well as from Canada come to the Glens Falls/Lake George region for vacation, and when those folks have an unexpected medical need arise we often see them in the hospital, particularly in the Sheridan Emergency Department. We’re there for those people when they’re at their most vulnerable, and are able to care for them and their families,” he said.
A significant upgrade to the hospital’s technology will be the addition of a dedicated CT scanner in the Emergency Department. According to Emergency Medial Director Dr. Douglas Girling, this will vastly improve the delivery of services in the department.
“This is going to allow us to get our critical diagnoses far quicker than we’ve been able to get them previously,” he said. “One of the areas we’re really focused on is treatment of strokes, which is very time-sensitive. Getting a CAT scan quickly is the cornerstone to treating strokes efficiently. “
He noted that when the scanner is out of the department it adds 10 to 15 minutes on to every stroke patient coming to the department.
“That’s a significant amount of time when we’re trying to get treatment to them within thirty or forty minutes of them actually hitting the door. So having the CAT scan in the department will reduce that ten-fold. It literally will take a minute or two to get our critical CAT scan, get our results while the patient is still in the emergency department and we can initiate treatment based on that. So it’s really a game changer for our particular department and for our patients,” he said.
Another improvement to the department will be in the area of behavioral health.
“Since COVID we’ve seen an incredible increase in the number of patients in need of behavioral health services,” said Donna Kirker, senior vice president of patient services and chief nursing officer. “We are challenged to be able to meet those needs in the current space and care environment, providing a safe space not only for the patients and visitors but also for our clinical team who has to often intervene at the most vulnerable point in a patient’s crisis.”
To meet those needs some of the rooms in the department have been designed to be converted to a behavioral health room at a moment’s notice.
“We want to be sure that while we’re assessing the patient and beginning their treatment they’re in a safe space, they’re in a supportive space, and the ability to have those rooms that can convert quickly to provide and respond to fluctuations and senses, that will be so important to us going forward,” said Scimeca.
Those wishing to support this project can make a gift online or by texting give2gfh to 50155. There are also naming opportunities for those who would like to honor or memorialize a loved one in a special way. To do this go to foundation@glensfallshosp.org.