Summa to expand emergency rooms into new locations in Northeast Ohio

Summa Health System this morning announced plans to expand three of its hospital emergency departments and build two new full-service, stand-alone emergency rooms in the region.

The new free-standing, 24-hour emergency departments will be built in Green, where the health system already has a Summa Health Center outpatient facility; and in Medina County, where the Summa Health Center at Lake Medina campus is currently under construction.

Both are expected to open next year, according to Summa.

The plans to expand emergency services also include a two-story addition to the Akron City Hospital ER and expansions and renovations at Barberton and Wadsworth-Rittman hospitals.

The health system is spending $65 million to expand its emergency services, according to a release from Summa.

”This is one more example of our commitment to ensure our communities will always have superior, reliable and timely care in convenient settings,” Summa President and Chief Executive Thomas J. Strauss said in a prepared statement.

The Akron City Planning Commission is reviewing site plans on Friday for the proposed two-story addition to the north of the existing emergency room at Akron City Hospital.

Construction of the estimated $43 million project on the City Hospital campus is expected to begin this spring and take about two years to complete.

The project will increase the ER size from 43 beds to 75.

Last year, the emergency department treated about 78,000 patients ’ or roughly 26,000 more patients than it was designed to handle.

Systemwide, Summa’s six owned or affiliated hospitals provided emergency care to more than 227,000 patients.