New Polk Medical Center to open at 6 a.m. Thursday
All patients to transfer to new facility in changeover
The new Polk Medical Center is set to open its doors first thing on Thursday morning, and so far hospital administrator Matt Gorman said everything has gone according to plan.
Polk Medical Center’s new location at Highway 278 and Kelly Road will begin taking emergen- cy patients at 6 a.m. on Nov. 6, taking over control of the current hospital’s emergency room in a coordinated effort between the two facilities, Gorman said.
“We actually have a very detailed plan on how that process will take place so there’s no interruption of patient care,” he said.
Floyd Medical Center’s EMS service will transfer any patients who are at the old facility on Thursday morning over to the new hospital when the switchover starts, he said. Command centers made up of Polk Medical officials will also be at each hospital just in case any problems arise.
The new facility has just about everything patients and staff will need to operate, Gorman said, except for a few items purchased over the past couple of years that will be carried along in the move.
That includes the medication cabinet, which will transfer to the new facility’s pharmacy when the switchover occurs. Officials are also moving a digital mammography system, one of the few items being carried to the new hospital.
“Just about everything we have in the hospital is new, so only those few major items we’ve purchased over the past year or two will be coming along,” he said.
Medical offices at the new Polk Medical Center are still slated to open on Friday, Nov. 7. Gorman said those offices are being moved during offhours to ensure patients are still able to see their doctors on the day of the move.
“We have some flexibility there,” he said, “We’ll move all those offices right at the tail end of the physical move of the hospital itself.”
Once 6 a.m. hits on Nov. 6, Gorman said signage along the roadway and on the new hospital will be uncovered, and the old Polk Medical Center’s signs will be covered up. He said unveiling the new signage was delayed to avoid any confusion about which hospital was open.
“Most significant thing is that at 6 a.m. on Nov. 6, the old emergency room will no longer accept patients,” he said. “That emergency room will be closed to new patients, and the new hospital will be open for patients to use.”
Among all of the new features that comes along with the facility is a 13bed emergency room, 25 new private in-patient rooms, a women’s health area with a private entrance and all new imaging equipment.
The 73,000 square foot facility also includes a helipad, decontamination showers built into the emergency loading area, two operating rooms and a brand new CT scanner are just some of the items featured in the new facility, Gorman said.
The old Polk Medical Center will become the City of Cedartown’s One Door Polk project, combining services with Highland Rivers Health, Primary Healthcare and hopeful tenants who provide services to operate a one-stop location for health and human services issues locally.
The basement of the old facility will also become home to the Polk County 911 center following the approval of an agreement between the city and Polk County’s boards of commission.