University Medical Center of El Paso will open the latest completed phase of its campus-wide expansion program this Thursday (May 19) to the press. The $6.7 million project adds 10,500 square feet to UMC’s emergency (ER) department, including 21 new treatment rooms, six fast-track rooms and a decontamination room for patients exposed to hazardous materials. Among the new treatment rooms are four isolation rooms for patients with contagious diseases. Four new nursing stations are also part of the new facility. 

The project is the fourth completed phase of a six-phase makeover of UMC’s ER department.  The Medical Center’s all-new Level I Trauma Center, which began receiving patients last fall, was the third phase to open.  The last phase, which adds additional treatment rooms, will open in October.  When it does, UMC will have doubled the size of its emergency facilities.