CLEARLAKE, Calif. – This week St. Helena Hospital Clearlake officially kicked off its emergency department renovations with a ceremonial “wall breaking” on Wednesday.

The hospital plans a $12.1 million renovation and expansion of its emergency department.

The festivities began with a reception followed by a variation of the traditional groundbreaking, in which hospital executives and physicians wielding golden sledge hammers broke through a symbolic emergency department wall, signaling commencement of the long-awaited renovation project.

Participants in the ceremony included Jennifer Swenson, vice president of operations; members of the hospital’s governing board and medical staff; and St. Helena Hospital President and Chief Executive Officer Terry Newmyer.

“This is an exciting event for us, and we want to share it with everyone,” said Newmyer. “A modernized and expanded emergency department is a critical milestone in our commitment to delivering excellence here in our community.”

The renovation will create 12 state-of-the-art patient monitoring rooms, two of which will be for trauma patients.

The project also will improve the configuration of the emergency department, providing a private ambulance entrance, a welcoming entrance for walk-in patients and visitors, and a pleasant, comfortable environment in the larger remodeled waiting area.

The triage area will be redesigned so that patients can go directly from the emergency department lobby to a private bed, if necessary.

St. Helena Hospital Clearlake is a 25-bed acute care Critical Access Hospital serving South Lake County.

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