ETMC FAIRFIELD DONATES $1,500 to Freestone County Relay for Life, the annual American Cancer Society fundraiser set for May 15-16 this year. Pictured are: relay volunteer Spain Trask, ETMC administrator Raz Cook and relay volunteers Billie Brim and Bettye Trask. First steps in a 10-year plan to upgrade and enlarge the hospital were taken last week by Fairfield Hospital District directors with approval to start on a pair of projects.

Directors approved a facility master plan last fall that calls for improving the hopital campus instead of building a new facility, a procedure that is much less expensive.

The master plan is divided into three phases over a decade, but the district does not have to follow the steps precisely.

The board agreed last week to order plans to expand the emergency room area, a phase one part of the plan, and to begin remodeling patient rooms, a phase two portion of the plan.

Board president Monte Cole estimates the upgrades to the hospital, which is operated by East Texas Medical Center in a contract with FHD, will cost $8-9 million and building a new hospital would cost in excess of $25 million.

ETMC administrator Raz Cook reports that some 700 patients per month are seen in the emergency room, almost double the volume served annually when ETMC contracted with the district to run the hospital, and suggests that enlarging the emergency room area would be a logical place to start work on the master plan.

Emergency room patients provide a number of admissions for the hospital and Mrs. Cook says ETMC is working to increase the number of patients admitted to the Fairfield hospital instead of being transferred to other facilities.

Last year, six percent of hospital admissions came from the emergency room, but that has increased to 12 percent with the recent addition of an emergency room medical director and a hospitalist, a doctor solely to make rounds and treat admitted patients.

"Based on past actions of the board, we want to focus on expanding the emergency room and laboratory," FHD adminstrative assistant Larry Ivy says.

Cole suggested last week that the board approve seeking plans from ETMC architects to expand the emergency room, but while plans are being drawn the district should start work to remodel and expand patient rooms.

"I sure would like to get something started," Cole says.

On a motion by Dr. J.H. Keller, seconded by Sherry Brackens, the board voted to follow Cole's suggestion.

To enlarge rooms, preliminary discussions between FHD board members and ETMC personnel are looking at combining a number of rooms. Combining rooms would reduce the number of patient beds at the hospital, but if additional capacity is needed the district could add a new patient wing.

FHD is funding the hopital work, using property tax money collected to improve facility, buy needed equipment and recruit physicians.

ETMC has leased the facility for 10 years, recently starting the second decade of a self-renewing lease that could run 50 years.

Projects in the first phase of the facility master plan, in addition to expanding the emergency room, include expanding the west clinic to provide administrative and departmental office space, resurface parking lots, enlarge the laboratory and pharmacy, update the electrical system and modernize the interior.

The board also approved seeking bids to replace the sewer line serving the hospital, from the facility to the city main sewer line.

Ivy reports that the current line on hospital property is clay, needs some repairs and is partially blocked by tree roots in places. He suggests replacing the line with plastic pipe as is now used for city water and sewer lines.