Guthrie Clinic, Robert Packer Hospital Emergency Department Expansion

Stressed beyond capacity, the Guthrie Clinic emergency department at Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pennsylvania needed to accommodate three times the patient visits that it was originally built to manage. NORR’s Health Sciences team applied a Lean Process planning method that incorporated valuable insights from medical staff and patients into the layout of the expansion.

Since the existing emergency department had to remain fully functional during construction, NORR used a highly complex phasing approach to minimize the renovation’s impact on ongoing services. Annexed space from a vacated critical care unit allowed the NORR team to create a new 4,500 square foot (418 square meter) addition with a new ambulance entrance, decontamination system and an expanded patient drop-off with a natural stone and wood canopy. This renovation allows Guthrie to expand vital services to the growing community by transforming an emergency department that originally handled 25,000 patient visits per year into one that provides for 75,000.