Ascension Mercy President Rich Roehr on Wednesday shows off one of the treatment rooms in the new emergency department at the Aurora medical center. The new emergency department is set to open next week. (Mark Black / The Beacon-News)

With the word “Ascension” officially in front of its name – if not yet its exterior signage in Aurora – “Mercy Medical Center is back.”

That’s the proud declaration made by some of its leaders. Like Dawn Cech, director of critical care. Or Dr. Thomas Caraballo, medical director of emergency services.

Or hospital President Rich Roehr.

The nurses' station in the new Ascension Mercy medical center emergency department in Aurora is quiet now, but that will soon change as the renovated department is set to open next week. (Mark Black / The Beacon-News)

All three point to a significant rise in patient volume at the Aurora hospital, which struggled for years with an identity crisis and waning reputation after corporate health care gradually took over from its Sisters of Mercy founders.

“Word of mouth, that’s what’s doing it,” said Roehr. “We aren’t on billboards or doing any commercials. But people are talking about how the care at Mercy has gotten a lot better.”

What makes the CEO and his staff even happier is that word is spreading even before next Tuesday, when Mercy’s new state-of-the-art emergency department, which has now completed the first of three stages in a $22.5 million renovation, is expected to open its doors to patients for the first time.

All told, when phases two and three are completed in June of next year, there will be 27 rooms running 24/7 in the emergency department.

“That,” insisted Roehr, “is where we grow.”

This brand new emergency department – a photographer and I got a sneak peek on Wednesday – not only features more expansive hallways and patient rooms and the latest in technology, Mercy will now have a 4,300-square-foot Crisis Stabilization Unit, making it the first hospital in Illinois to offer a designated area for adults experiencing a critical mental health emergency.

Ascension Mercy President Rich Roehr leads a tour on Wednesday of the new emergency department at the Aurora medical center. The department is set to open next week. (Mark Black / The Beacon-News)

As Caraballo reminded me, that’s the population “who generally fall through the cracks” but now will be better served with their own private space and staff specially trained for their needs.

The Crisis Stabilization Unit renovation - funded almost entirely by private donations - has increased behavioral health beds at Mercy from its current two to eight. And that will provide a much-needed “pressure-relief valve” because it was “not uncommon for us to see six, eight, even 10 patients waiting” in the ED, said Roehr.

Long wait times, he added, not only make it more difficult for those in crisis to de-escalate, they create more anxiety for other patients not used to seeing someone experiencing a psychosis episode, especially children.

The new Crisis Stabilization Unit, which provides 24-hour observation and stabilization for adults only, has its own entrance, nurses’ station, examining rooms and restrooms and showers. It also offers a private dining and relaxation area, as well as the latest in safety features, including exterior doors that guard against escape and room doors that provide quick access should a patient try to barricade inside.

Ascension Mercy in Aurora will have a Crisis Stabilization Unit in its new emergency department. While the new department is set to open next week, the Crisis Stabilization Unit will not debut until a month or so later as staffing for it is completed. (Mark Black / The Beacon-News)

While the unit won’t be up and running for at least a month as staffing is completed, the temporary walls of the new emergency department are coming down. And, after taking a tour of both the new and current emergency areas - the latter even Roehr described as outdated, chaotic, noisy and crowded – it’s obvious why the president and his staff are so excited.

The renovation offers advanced lighting, wider hallways, better storage and larger patient rooms that contain sliding and expanding doors for easy bed and stretcher access. The latest in bedside monitoring and documentation technology is also on display, and includes digital whiteboards and an integrated TV system that not only calls nurses but allows patients to Facetime with loved ones on the big screen.

“Health care is all about keeping up with the Joneses,” said Roehr. “It does not get better than this.”

The completion of stage one represents 50% of the project’s total square footage, he added. By reconfiguring existing space – which included doing away with an atrium – Mercy’s ED will be close to 20,000 square feet -- without having to build any new exterior walls.

That meant more money could be spent on technology that, according to Caraballo, helps make it one of the best emergency departments in the nation.

When the doctor makes that bold claim he’s not just referring to the building renovation.

According to Roehr, as the planning and construction were taking place, behind the scenes leaders like Cech and Caraballo were part of a team that recruited new hires and trained the entire staff to meet the hospital’s elevated expectations. That also meant a laser focus on its Catholic-based mission, which officials admit got watered down when Mercy and Ascension became part of AMITA Health seven years ago. (The partnership was officially dissolved this spring, but a supply chain issue has postponed the signage name-change).

“Patients that come here need us. Many don’t have access to health care,” said Cech. “We teach all staff members that everyone deserves the same high level of care. This is what our patients, our community deserves.”

Added Roehr, “We are proud to be back as part of Ascension … absolutely Mercy is back.

“Our story is reaching others, which is great,” he said. “But it’s not the building, which is not yet open. It’s the hard work behind the scenes that is really holding us up.”