Kona Community Hospital began a construction project Wednesday to renovate and expand its emergency department.
Kona Community Hospital began a construction project Wednesday to renovate and expand its emergency department.
The old Admitting Department and Emergency Triage walk-in areas will be closed during the construction, but the emergency department will continue to be open throughout the project.
A temporary emergency department triage area will be located on the ground floor through the hospital’s new main entrance, located at the north end of the building, between the radiation oncology clinic and the hospital.
The emergency department patient parking will be relocated to the new main entrance area. Signage is in place for these parking stalls.
The KCH emergency department sees roughly 21,000 patients annually. The current location has been constrained by its size for a number of years. The expansion of the ED will shorten patient waiting times, and improve efficiency in the triage area, hospital administrators said.
“This construction project is part of an on-going effort to maintain and improve our facilities,” said hospital CEO Jay Kreuzer.
KHC receives capital improvement project funds from the state, which enables facility renovations. CIP funding is restricted to maintenance and facility improvement projects, and cannot be used for day-to-day hospital operations.
“We’re very grateful to our state legislators for their efforts to obtain CIP funding from the state,” Kreuzer added.