Columbus Hospital To Open Long-Awaited Emergency Department

COLUMBUS, Ind. (AP) — A southern Indiana hospital is wrapping up an expansion project that was delayed for several years after flash flooding in 2008 caused nearly $180 million in damage.

The (Columbus) Republic reports that Columbus Regional Hospital's new emergency department is scheduled to open Wednesday on the southeast side of the hospital's main building. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held last Tuesday for the facility.

The new 16,350-square-foot department is twice the size and designed to handle twice as many patients as the previous emergency room unit. Hospital officials expect the new facility's opening to address the waiting issue in the overcrowded former emergency department.

The hospital invested $16 million in the new department.