Madison Hospital adding staff, rooms

Wright said the additional rooms and an increase in staff will decrease wait time at the hospital.

BY ANNA DURRETT / REPORTER

Madison Hospital is expanding its building and staff due to higher traffic than expected. “Things are going extremely well,” said Madison Hospital President Mary Lynn Wright.

“We’re adding three additional ER rooms,” said Wright. She said construction on three new exam rooms began last week, and the construction will take about 90 days.

“We budgeted to have about 19,000 to 20,000 [patients] a year,” said Wright. “If we stay on the same volume course we are now, we’ll see about 31,000.”

“We’ll probably add about 15 employees over next few months,” Wright said. She said the additional rooms and an increase in staff will decrease wait time at the hospital.

Wright said the hospital is looking to hire nurse practitioners since they can start treatments on patients, but they are in short supply. She said nurse practitioners on staff at Huntsville Hospital help patients receive care faster.

“It’s frequent we’ll have three or four ambulances show up in an hour,” said Wright. She said some patients are transferred to the Huntsville Hospital due to their severity, but many remain at Madison Hospital.

Labor and delivery service for expectant mothers opened June 1. The first baby born at the hospital was delivered by a cesarean section on June 6, said Wright.

The healing garden opened a few weeks ago. Wright said the patients and their families, as well as the hospital staff, are enjoying the garden. The garden is “quiet and peaceful,” according to Wright, and she said it is important for people to get outside.