McLeod Regional Medical Center celebrated the completion of the steel construction phase of the McLeod Emergency Department Expansion with a “Topping Out” Ceremony on Thursday, June 6 which included a hoisting of the final steel beam into place. The beam bears the signatures of McLeod staff who may also be providing care to patients in the new facility.

“The expansion of the Emergency Department will help us meet the needs of the population served in the northeastern region of South Carolina and beyond,” said Marie Saleeby, Administrator of McLeod Regional Medical Center. The new Emergency Department demonstrates McLeod’s investment within the community and long standing history of quality for more than 115 years.

The expansion of the Emergency Department will provide 83 rooms designed to serve more than 100,000 patients a year. The new Emergency Department will benefit patients and improve patient care and efficiency in the following ways: triage rooms for immediate patient evaluation, additional patient rooms, designated trauma rooms, covered drop-off area for patients at the front entrance, additional x-ray rooms, a new helipad adjacent to the ambulance entrance, and five ambulance bays at a dedicated entrance.

This expansion will also include a second floor that supports the operating rooms on the second floor of the McLeod pavilion. The suite includes 25 pre/post support rooms for endoscopy and 20 transitional rooms. Additionally, this floor will consist of 15 procedure rooms. The third floor will add much needed space for the expansion of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with 26 private NICU rooms. The suite also includes 24 open NICU rooms.

The fourth floor expansion enhances the women’s services department with the addition of approximately 31,000 square feet to create 40 new postpartum rooms. The fourth floor will also see the addition of a new C-section room along with a post-operation recovery area, an enhanced baby nursery and an expanded nurses’ station with improved functionality for nursing staff.

The $89-million-dollar expansion of the Emergency Department is set to be complete by December 2020.