Mercy Hospital Fort Smith opened its newly expanded emergency room and intensive care unit May 2. A celebration, blessing and open house for the soon-to-open facilities were held inside the new space. The event featured both Mercy and community leaders, who gathered ahead of the official opening dates for the new departments. Bishop Anthony B. Taylor blessed the new space. The new ER opened to patients May 7, while two new ICU floors and the new ICU entrance opened the following weeks.
The new main entrance will open for all patients and visitors this fall, upon completion of interior corridors.
Mercy announced the $186 million expansion project in 2021, with the goal of improving emergency and critical care for patients and creating a better workflow for caregivers, enhancing their ability to serve the community. The hospital’s ER will grow from 29 to 50 rooms, enabling Mercy to serve nearly 25,000 more patients each year. The original ER, which opened in 1975, was designed to handle only 30,000 visits a year.
The ICU will increase from 38 to 64 beds. The hospital’s former ICU space will be converted to a 22-bed observation unit. The ICU and ER upgrades are supported by a state-of-the-art automation system that allows entire floors or pods to be converted into isolation areas when needed.
Mercy expects to hire about 200 more caregivers in the next few years to help expand patient care in the new departments. To support the increased patient volume, Mercy Fort Smith is adding 400 parking spaces near the new ER entrance and plans to expand visitor services with a gift shop and meeting room space, expected to be complete in the fall.
