Mayo announces Waseca emergency department expansion
May 20—WASECA — Mayo Clinic Health System announced a $4.2 million project to expand and renovate the Waseca hospital's emergency department Friday.
The project will begin this summer and finish in summer 2023.
Once completed, the emergency department will have a new wing for exam and treatment rooms, an ambulance garage, new vehicle entry points and updated existing space.
The investment should be seen as a "great big sign" of Mayo Clinic Health System's commitment to Waseca, said Mackenzie Miller, hospital administrator.
"I'm really excited," she said. "I think this really shows the investment Mayo Clinic Health System has in Waseca and our commitment to continuing to provide care here."
Walk-in patients will still access the emergency department through the hospital's front door, while ambulance patients, police escorts and funeral directors will have more privacy through the new garage area. Currently, ambulance patients are transferred in or out outside the emergency department's front door.
The plans will improve efficiency at the hospital, Miller said.
Hospital boundaries are expanding to the northwest as part of the project. The extra space will enable new vehicle entry points to replace the steeper, current driveways.
The renovation aspect of the project will come after the new exam and treatment wing gets completed. Mayo will remodel the existing emergency department, Miller said.
The campus at 501 N. State St. includes a clinic open weekdays along with the hospital's 24/7 emergency department.
Operations will continue at the hospital and clinic through construction, with signage to be posted directing people where to go for appointments.
Waseca's project comes after Mayo Clinic Health System marked the start of a $155 million hospital expansion in Mankato earlier this month. That project, set to finish in early 2024, will add 121 hospital beds to the campus.
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