Vail Valley Medical Center's Emergency Department (ED) now faces many challenges. With changes and advances in technology, privacy laws, medical procedures, case load, imaging, physician capabilities, and recruitment needs, the layout of our current facility can no longer accommodate the demands. Since 1980, our dedicated ED team has worked in a department with a small nursing station at one end of a windowless, long, corridor with bathroom facilities that are accessible only through a small staff break room. Patients and family members sit in rooms separated by curtains allowing private information to be overheard in adjacent spaces. There are no windows or televisions – standard in ERs across the country. With an increase in patient load and technology, larger rooms are needed to house monitoring equipment. Children must wait in rooms with parents, as there is not a play area for them. On busy weekends during the ski season, patients on gurneys line the hallways, and are often treated there while other rooms are full. This creates flow issues for staff and physicians, and can present a hazard in the event of an evacuation or mass casualty influx.

Although we have functioned very well despite these challenges over the last many years, the time has come to rebuild the ED. We are currently in the strategic planning phase of this project and we will provide updates as progress is made. If you wish to support our efforts, donate now.