Press Releases (2006)

New Waiting Room Opens at Elkhart General Emergency
September 14, 2006

ELKHART, IN - The latest step in the $6 million Emergency Department expansion and improvement project at Elkhart General Hospital opened September 14: a more comfortable and spacious waiting room.

Scheduled for completion during the summer of 2007, the project will increase ER capacity from 26 to 38 beds. The ER also includes a five-bed Observation Unit that is used to monitor the condition of patients arriving with chest pain, asthma, kidney stones and other conditions.

The new waiting room accommodates both Emergency and FasTrak patients. FasTrak is the area within the ER dedicated to treating minor illnesses and injuries in under an hour. Both FasTrak care and care for more serious illnesses and injuries are provided by Board-Certified Emergency physicians.

Annual visits to the Elkhart General ER have grown from about 50,000 in 2003 to 57,000 in 2005, and are projected to reach 65,000 by 2010.

The Emergency Department is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and FasTrak hours are 10am to 2am every day.