Saturday, Nov. 3, will likely be the public’s only opportunity to see the inside of one of the new, state-of-the-art operating suites at Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica — while upright and awake, anyway.
Tanner Health System is inviting residents from throughout Carroll, Douglas, Haralson and Paulding counties to see first-hand the massive new emergency department and surgical services unit opening this fall in Villa Rica. The open house event will be from 9 a.m. to noon.
Visitors will be able to tour the new emergency department and surgical services unit before the new space opens for patient care later in November. The open house will also feature door prizes, educational displays and surgical demonstrations. First responders will be on hand for “touch-a-truck” activities with kids and an EMS helicopter will be on display.
The Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica emergency department and surgical services expansion features a completely new emergency department with 37 exam rooms — including isolation rooms, trauma rooms and triage rooms — that more than doubles the number of available beds in the hospital’s current emergency department. The project also adds on-unit diagnostic imaging services, including digital X-ray and a second CT scanner for the facility.
The expansion also includes new operating suites capable of providing more advanced surgical procedures, including total joint replacement and the latest minimally invasive and robotic-assisted procedures. The number of short-stay surgery rooms more than doubles to 19, and an eight-bay post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) will also be on display, along with two gastroenterology suites that are also part of the expansion. The project features more than 66,000 square feet of clinical space and is budgeted at $37 million.
The project is the largest healthcare expansion in Villa Rica since the current Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica facility opened in 2003.
“We serve a community that’s continuing to grow,” said Eric Dalton, administrator for Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica. “It’s vital to the health of this region that residents have access to a medical facility that can accommodate that growth and provide the level of care this community requires. That’s what we’ve built in Villa Rica.”
The hospital has emerged as a true destination for care, establishing interventional cardiology services in recent years and becoming accredited as a certified chest pain center and primary stroke center. The facility also offers maternity services, advanced diagnostic imaging services and more.
Medical providers from Tanner’s medical staff will be on hand to demonstrate the capabilities of the new facilities and provide information on the growing healthcare resources available in Villa Rica.
“We wouldn’t be able to deliver this type of care without the support of our community, and opening this facility to the public before it’s pressed into service for patient care is part of our way of saying ‘thank you’,” said Dalton. “We are grateful for all the support this city and our neighbors have shown Tanner through the years, and we’re honored to have this opportunity to continue growing here.”
More information on Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica can be found online at tanner.org/vropenhouse.