BENNINGTON, Vt. — There was one theme that stood out on Thursday as the ribbon was cut on Southwestern Vermont Medical Center's new $31 million Emergency Department: Community. 

 

A community that came together to raise funds, to provide critical input, and to continue to serve patients during three years of construction.

 

"This project is all you, I mean, this was all the community," said U.S. Sen. Peter Welch to the gathering outside the new entrance. "It takes an incredible commitment to serving the health-care needs of the citizens, because the process that you have to go through is very, very tough. And I just want to acknowledge that to the health-care leaders and to the board, that this is really, really tough." 

 

Health-care officials and funders had lined up three years ago on another hot and sunny August day to break ground on the Kendall Emergency Department, the first phase of a $40 million plan to also double the size of the cancer center on campus in a strategic plan to modernize and update facilities throughout the campus.  

 

"On behalf of the entire SVMC family, I want to express our sincere appreciation, certainly to Don and Nancy Kendall, but all the rest of you who are here today who've been incredibly supportive and generous on this critical project," said Thomas Dee, SVMC's president and CEO. 

 

"A case can be made that emergency services is probably the most important services for a community hospital. All of us use our emergency service. We see about 25,000 patients a year here, and the transformation of our emergency room, our patient registration, our main entryway and lobby space, will really have an impact in our community for years to come." 

 

Dee and Kathleen Fisher, chair of the board of trustees, ceremonially buried a time capsule outside the entrance with materials from the hospital's centennial year in 2018 — a bit late because of the planned construction. Donald Kendall, CEO of Mack Group and a major donor of the project, then used a large pair of golden scissors to cut the ribbon.

 

The renovation and addition included the razing of the 1925 Lodge building to make way for an addition that includes the new entrance. The lobby offers a reception desk, gift shop and snack area, waiting rooms and and access to the new Emergency Department. 

 

A dozen patient rooms surround a core nurses station that allows for more streamlined and efficient communication between doctors and nurses, and there's a dedicated staff lounge, locker room and shower to replace what was essentially a large closet with a microwave. 

 

The ambulance bay opens into an airlock that can shift patients directly to a set of trauma rooms on the right or to the five-room Emergency Crisis Area to the left without entering the ER proper. 

 

The crisis area was a $1 million commitment and a critical component of the hospital's ability to serve the mental health needs of the community. SVMC works with United Counseling Services and, via telehealth, and with Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., to counsel and treat patients in crisis. 

 

Staff had direct input into the layout and the needs of the department, including setting up pilot patient rooms in a tent to physically work the design and organization of the rooms. 

 

Dee pointed out that the staff had been working continually during the three years of construction caring for patients. Despite that hardship, the emergency team had received a Lantern Award from the Emergency Nurses Association.

 

The award is presented to departments that "demonstrate exceptional and innovative performance." SVMC was one of only 75 departments in the country and the only one in the Vermont, New Hampshire and New York Capital Region to be so honored. 

 

The CEO thanked the team, clad in their purple Lantern Award T-shirts, for their dedication, and the hospital's local and congressional delegations, the marketing team, the significant donors to the project, and the hospital's volunteer board members. 

 

"We have over 60 governance members who are involved in our health-care system here, and it's really due to their steadfast commitments and work and support and generous support that we're all here today," he said. 

 

Part of Vision 2020, A Decade of Transformation capital campaign, the $31 million project was primarily funded through philanthropic giving. 

 

Dr. Joanne Conroy, president and CEO of Dartmouth Hitchcock Health, said she has been impressed with not only the project's progress but the how the emergency team had functioned in the middle of construction, moving from space to space. 

 

Southwestern Vermont Health Care had integrated with Dartmouth Hitchcock last year to become part of a multi-hospital system after more than decade of partnering on a number of programs. 

 

"You know, we only have 35,000 visits a year at the [Dartmouth] medical center. So 25,000 visits a year here is not insignificant for the size of this community, and it tells you how important the emergency room is," said Conroy. "It is the front door for many people in this community and, at the medical center, about 40 percent of the people that come to the emergency room get admitted. And I'm sure the numbers here are probably very similar."

 

Health care has "competing, complicated and oftentimes conflicting financing mechanisms," said Welch, and first-responders and health-care workers are owed an "extraordinary debt of gratitude" for their commitment and dedication, particularly during the pandemic. 

 

"You have this facility with these trained people whose job it is to make that person better, to reassure their loved ones about the situation with the person they so deeply care about. That's what binds us together," the senator said. "So whatever the challenges are, Bennington strong is Bennington being there for people who are in need. That's all of us, by the way."

 

many of you saw the old space. It was outdated, it was small, it was impossible to efficiently do the work that we need to do quickly. But this new space gives us that ability.

 

Jill Maynard, director of the emergency nursing team, noted that many of those in attendance had seen the old, outdated emergency room that was "impossible to efficiently do the work that we need to do quickly."

 

"I've worked here at the hospital for 20 years, and there are many reasons I never go anywhere else, but I stand over there today, and I look at the community that's come together to support our hospital, to support our team, to support our clinicians, and you don't find that in a lot of places," she said. "This gift isn't just to just an emergency department. This is a gift to our community. This is a gift to our organization. This is a gift to our team, our staff, our clinicians, our providers, the safety net, the ED is like the safety net the community ... 

 

"What this new emergency department does is it gives our top-notch emergency team a facility that they can continue to give back to the community for the years to come with high-quality care."