ALBANY, Ga. (WRBL) — Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital (PPMH) opened phase two of their Emergency & Trauma Center on Wednesday morning, caring for the very first patients of their new center.
Phase two of the project added these updates to their center:
A new second floor corridor
A six-bed Behavioral Health Emergency Center
Locker room for employees
Nine private patient triage rooms
Six additional private triage rooms
14 new private vertical treatment bays
“We’ve been looking forward to this day since we opened the Trauma & Critical Care Tower last January. The additional space will allow us to enhance the experience for our emergency patients, and it includes a separate behavioral health wing unlike anything available at other hospitals in South Georgia,” said Deb Angerami, PPMH President.
The center, which opened in January 2025, led to the closing and overhaul of the old ER which is what used to occupy the space where the critical care center now stands.
According to officials, the old emergency center covered only 19,000 feet whereas the newly renovated emergency center now covers 53,000 feet.
“After we opened our incredible emergency center in our new tower, we saw a six percent increase in emergency patients last year,” said Susie McKay, PPMH Emergency Center Director. “We expect our volume to continue to increase, and we now have a much larger waiting room and more treatment areas for those patients.”
“This phase completes our vision and helps ensure we provide exceptional care and superior service in the region’s largest and most advanced emergency center.”
The project took more than three years to complete with the help of around 1,000 dedicated people working to complete the project and as many as 265 workers on site at a time.
The new second floor corridor will connect the Trauma and Critical Care Tower to an expanded labor and delivery waiting room, renovated Obstetrics Emergency Center (OBEC) with five triage bays and the main hospital.
Another new addition, a six-bed Behavioral Health Emergency Center, will serve as an alternative for patients compared to the traditional emergency department, treating patients’ mental health struggles.
“Our Behavioral Health EC is designed to keep our patients and staff safe, and it is staffed with healthcare professionals specifically trained to care for behavioral health patients. Providing a separate area for those patients will help us operate more effectively and efficiently,” said Ellen Williams, PhD, PPMH Vice President for Behavioral Health.
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