DBR worked with Freeman White/T. Howard Associates to provide mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering design services for the $47 million expansion and renovation of the Riggs Emergency Department on the main campus of Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.
This expansion/renovation tripled the size of the department from 25,000 square feet to 75,000 square feet. The project included adding 70 new treatment rooms, three radiology rooms, two CT scanners, and a 4-bay trauma room to the Level 1 Trauma Center. The footprint divides the department into functional zones and care team areas. The support areas are located within the center of each zone. The division of the floor into zones provides the ideal environment for efficient and effective patient care.
The newly expanded emergency department offers advanced technology, equipment, and services to support both routine and trauma care:
- Electronic medical records with physician order entry
- Two CT scans – one a 64-slice CT
- Four radiology suites
- Ultrasound within the department
- Centralized telemetry
- On-site lab
- Stat scan for trauma patients
- Disaster preparedness components including decontamination rooms, containment rooms, a command center, and showers for biological agents.
The need for immediate access to imaging equipment led to the incorporation of a Lodox Stat Scan between the two sets of trauma bays as well as digital imaging installed on overhead railing systems in the four trauma spaces.
This expansion gave Baylor the opportunity to broaden its trauma capabilities, expand its minor emergency care center, and add additional patient care areas.