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Tacoma General and Mary Bridge Emergency Department Expansion

The Need for Expanded Emergency Departments

In 2007, the Tacoma General Hospital and Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital Emergency Departments handled almost 70,000 patient visits, that’s 30,000 more than it is designed to handle.

That means that patients received care on gurneys in the hallway, without the benefits and comfort of a private room, sick children waited in an over-crowded waiting area and an average of five adult patients left without being seen everyday.

View the construction progress from our webcam

The current Emergency Departments are severely overcrowded, too small and inadequately designed to meet today’s needs. The situation will only get worse as our population continues to grow. By 2014 the population of 45-64 year olds will grow by 32 percent. As Tacoma continues to grow, our Emergency Departments need to grow as well.

Due to structural constraints and space limitations, it is not possible to expand the Emergency Departments in the existing hospital building. Tacoma General Hospital and Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital need new, expanded Emergency Departments capable of handling more patients.