Health

Cleveland Clinic Akron General Unveils Its New, Upgraded Emergency Department in Downtown Akron

Ideastream Public Media | By Jeff St. Clair

Published July 25, 2018 at 11:52 PM EDT

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Cleveland Clinic Akron General's new emergency department opens to the public Tuesday. The $49.3 million facility is three times the size of the current emergency room.

JEFF ST.CLAIR / WKSU

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The new emergency room features two state-of-the-art trauma operating rooms that can be expanded as needed.

MARK RIGGS / CLEVELAND CLINIC

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Dr. Steven Brooks is the head of Cleveland Clinic Akron General's emergency department, which includes a helipad on the roof of the new facility.

JEFF ST.CLAIR / WKSU

Cleveland Clinic Akron General unveiled its new state-of-the-art emergency department that greatly expands the hospital’s ability to treat people with life-threatening injuries.

The head of the emergency department, Dr. Steven Brooks, led a tour of the gleaming white 67,000- square-foot facility. The new ER is a stand-alone building across the street from the existing ER in downtown Akron.

Ribbon cutting for emergency department at Cleveland Clinic Akron General — Akron General President Dr. Brian Harte (center) holds scissors following the ribbon cutting Wednesday. He's joined by, from the left, Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro, Dr. Edmund Sabanegh, president of Cleveland Clinic main campus and regional hospitals, Cleveland Clinic Chief Executive Officer and President Dr. Tom Mihaljevic, Chairman of Cleveland Clinic Emergencies Services Dr. Brad Borden, and Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan.

Brooks pointed to equipment in one of the two acute trauma operating room.

“We can crack a chest in here. We can open the abdomen, if need be by the trauma surgeons,” he said.

Akron General President Dr. Brian Harte said the current emergency department does a great job, but “the needs of the community and the advances of medical capabilities and technology have really advanced far beyond the current footprint could accommodate and that’s what this facility really represents.”

The new $49.3 million facility is three times the size of the current ER.

Akron General’s 38 emergency physicians, plus residents, nurses and support staff will begin work in the new facility Tuesday, when it opens to the public.