Nov 24, 2004 2 min read

Monongahela Valley Hospital (MVH) has received an $800,000 federal grant for expansion of its emergency department. The funding is part of a massive $388-billion federal omnibus appropriations bill overwhelmingly passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.

Louis J. Panza Jr., president and chief executive officer of MVH, said the health system is “deeply appreciative” of the leadership of Congressman John P. Murtha, Sen. Arlen Specter and Sen. Rick Santorum in spearheading the efforts to secure the $800,000 grant for the emergency department expansion.

In January, MVH was awarded $250,000 for the $8 million emergency department project as part of the omnibus appropriations bill.

Murtha, Specter and Santorum also were instrumental in obtaining that grant.

Monongahela Valley Hospital announced plans to expand its emergency department in August 2003.

The project, which is expected to be completed late next year, will double the capacity of the department.

Donna Ramusivich, senior vice president at MVH who is overseeing the expansion, said it will increase the number of treatment rooms in the emergency department from 12 to 24 and said the size of the department will be more than doubled from 7,100 square feet to 18,450 square feet.

All patient treatment rooms will be private cubicles with glass slide-away doors for increased privacy, comfort and confidentiality for patients and their families.

The enlarged emergency department also will include an expanded work area for first-responder emergency medical personnel (paramedics and EMTs) and will maintain space for the Carroll Township Police substation in the emergency department which was established in December 2002.

The expanded department also will have a decontamination room and a negative pressure isolation room for patients with respiratory infectious diseases.