Aspirus Wausau Hospital (AWH) in the US state of Wisconsin has announced the commencement of construction work to expand its emergency department, reported Spectrum News 1.

This expansion will see the emergency department have additional and larger rooms.

Currently, the emergency department has 18 rooms.

Once the 29,500ft² expansion project is finished, the number of rooms in the department will increase to 30.

While the construction work is underway, AWH officials noted that its current rooms will be operational without causing any disruption to the available services.

Furthermore, the emergency department will have a further triage room and critical care rooms post-expansion.

Post expansion, the department will feature enhanced energy efficiency equipment that includes heating, cooling and lighting.

Besides remodelling the existing space, this project is also expected to enhance patient parking facilities and accommodate more patient visitors due to the larger waiting room.

Aspirus’ associate chief nursing officer Robin Rudie said: “We’ve seen a growing need for emergency services at Aspirus Wausau Hospital.

“We have an excellent staff of medical professionals here and we need to make sure they have the optimal space to treat our patients.”

The project is slated to be carried out in three phases, for over about two years.

According to AWH, the expansion project will “address present and future constraints on emergency care in Wausau and the surrounding communities by nearly doubling the current space.”