Bridgeport Hospital has completed the first, and most visible, phase of its two-year, $15 million Emergency Department expansion and renovation.

The centerpiece of the first phase is an 11,000 square foot addition that houses adult and children's treat-and-release services, including the Elizabeth M. Pfriem Children's Emergency Center. The addition includes nine new examination rooms as well as new drop-off, reception and waiting areas. Additional patient parking, boosting the total number of spaces to 55, has been provided just outside the Emergency Department entrance on Mill Hill Avenue.

"We wanted to upgrade our physical space to better support the high level of emergency and trauma care that we already provide," says Michael Werdmann, MD, Bridgeport Hospital's Chairman of Emergency Medicine.

The Emergency Department was last updated in 1979. At that time, the hospital received 30,000 annual emergency visits. During the past year, the department saw nearly 65,000 patient visits. The new space provides the capacity for 75,000 annual visits.

"Clearly there was a need to expand our space to meet the growing emergency care needs of our community," Dr. Werdmann says. "Not only has there been an increase in patients, new technology has also created a demand for more space."

The new addition increases the total amount of Emergency Department space to 25,000 square feet, nearly double the previous size. Bridgeport Hospital is a regional trauma center and the site of Connecticut's only dedicated burn center. It is also a partner in the Yale New Haven Health System Center for Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response.

The Emergency Department project began with a November 2005 groundbreaking and has been carried out in phases so that patient care is not interrupted. The next phases will include renovations to the rest of the department, and installation of an Emergency Department-based CT scanner and new decontamination area. When work is completed in 2008, the department will have 52 patient rooms, an increase of 12 over the previous total.

The expansion and renovation are being financed entirely through community donations. To date, major donors include GE, People's Bank, the Bridgeport Hospital Auxiliary, the Bridgeport Hospital Woman's Staff and philanthropist Elizabeth Pfriem.