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2010
Summa Health System Plans $65 Million Emergency Services Network Growth: Two New 24/7 Emergency Departments, Three Emergency Department Expansions Growth will bring increased access to communities to meet emergency services needs 10 March, 2010 
AKRON, Ohio, March 10, 2010 – Summa Health System announced today a $65 million plan to grow its comprehensive emergency services network by building two new full-service emergency departments and expanding three existing emergency departments.
Free-standing, 24/7 emergency departments will be built on the Summa Health Center at Lake Medina campus (currently under construction) and in the City of Green to complement services offered at the Summa Health Center at Green. The emergency departments at Summa Akron City Hospital, Summa Barberton Hospital and Summa Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital will be expanded to allow for increased capacity and improved patient experience.
“With the significant expansion of our tertiary hospital emergency department and Level 1 trauma center, supported by a full network of community hospital and free-standing emergency departments, we’re able to give our communities the best access to the emergency medical care they need, when they need it and in their own backyards,” said Thomas J. Strauss, president and CEO, Summa Health System. “This is one more example of our commitment to ensure our communities will always have superior, reliable and timely care in convenient settings.”
One of the largest emergency services providers in Northeast Ohio, Summa’s emergency departments across the system saw more than 227,000 patients in 2009. Summa Akron City Hospital’s emergency department currently consists of 43 beds and approximately 19,000 square feet and was designed to treat approximately 52,000 patients. Treating more than 78,000 patients in 2009, this expansion will bring the number of beds to 75 and increase the area to 84,000 square feet.
The renovated facility will meet current and future patient care needs, including additional capacity and advanced technologies. It also will provide for an enhanced patient experience with private rooms that are large enough to accommodate families and loved ones at the bedside during the care process. The expansion also will include enhanced radiological testing capabilities with two digital radiography units, ultrasound and a 64-slice CT scan unit dedicated to the emergency department. Construction will begin in April.
Plans are being developed to expand and renovate the emergency departments at Summa Barberton Hospital and Summa Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital in order to continue to meet the growing community need for emergency care. Summa also provides emergency services to the community at Summa St. Thomas Hospital, Summa Western Reserve Hospital and Summa affiliate Robinson Memorial Hospital.
The Summa Health Center at Lake Medina, which will open in the fall, includes outpatient services, a physician medical office building and an ambulatory surgery center. Adding an emergency department will provide comprehensive patient care services for Medina and the surrounding communities. Plans are in development for the construction of both the Summa Health Center at Lake Medina and Green emergency departments, which are expected to open in 2011.
Rounding out its emergency services offerings, Summa announced in late 2009 plans to partner with Giant Eagle to operate nurse practitioner-staffed Fast Care locations in Wadsworth and Stow. In addition, Summa recently purchased an urgent care facility in Fairlawn to provide additional services to people in need of physician provided care.
About Summa Health System
Summa Health System is one of the largest integrated delivery systems in Ohio. Encompassing a network of hospitals, community health centers, a health plan, a physician-hospital organization, a multi-specialty physician organization, research and multiple foundations, Summa is nationally renowned for excellence in patient care and for exceptional approaches to healthcare delivery. Summa's clinical services are consistently recognized by HealthGrades, U.S. News and World Report, Thomson Reuters and The Leapfrog Group. Summa also is a founding partner of the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron. For more information, visit www.summahealth.org.
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Contact:
Mike Bernstein
System Director, Public Relations & Public Affairs
Summa Health System
(330) 375-7930
bernsteinm@summa-health.org
Julie Uehara Sur
Manager, Public Relations Summa Health System
(330) 375-7117
ueharaj@summa-health.org
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