By Jessica Coleman -- Daily Staff Writer

FRONT ROYAL — Warren Memorial Hospital has a new feather in its cap with the opening of a new outpatient center on Commerce Avenue.

The 37,000-square-foot, two-story building opened its doors March 31 to a swarm of eager patients. The $11 million project is intended to "decompress" some of the departments at the hospital and allow room for the programs relocated to this new site to grow, said Warren Memorial Hospital's president, Patrick Nolan.

The new building houses the Occupational Health Services Department and the Rehabilitation and Wellness Department that were both relocated from the hospital and now have much more space to efficiently treat patients, Nolan said.

Education also was a priority when building the new facility, said Denise Eastham, occupational health director. A large conference room with state-of-the-art equipment was built for staff development courses.

"One of our needs at the hospital is not having enough space for classes," Eastham said, adding that everyone is "ecstatic" to be in the new space.

The biggest improvement at the new site, Eastham said, is the increase in space, which allows health care providers to more quickly and efficiently see patients.

"The goal there is also to provide faster turnaround service," she said. "We can process patients much more quickly."

State of the art X-ray rooms, lab-draw stations, cardiac care rooms, and hydrotherapy rooms fill the space in the Occupational Health Services Department.

Across the hall, in the Rehabilitation and Wellness Department, a plethora of strength training equipment and cardio machines are on hand for physical therapy patients.

"You really had to see our therapy space at the hospital to appreciate the difference," Nolan said. "We've easily doubled the space for the therapists and added a wellness component that wasn't available at the hospital."

Now, even community members can join the program, just like a gym, and have professionals monitor their exercise and assist them in a medical environment. It's for anyone who might be uncomfortable joining a regular gym or who might need a little extra help, Nolan said.

According to Karen Weatherholtz, operations coordinator, the move began on a Friday and the new building was open for patients first thing that Monday, but even given the relative haste, the transition was a smooth one.

"The facility we were in before — it was a good space for the time, but we outgrew it a long time ago," she said. "We feel like we're adding to the community by providing them with this facility."

And now, the health care providers are able to see more patients and get them in and out more quickly. With the new space, the process is simply more efficient, said Linda Klingenberg, medical assistant.

"It's definitely much easier," she said. "We're able to move the patients quicker through their visit here."

But not all of the building is occupied. Nolan said he anticipates incorporating urgent care service into the building in the latter half of this year. This will mean the acquisition of about seven more employees and possibly a change in hours, but the goal is to meet the community's needs for health care, he said.

"We're built to grow into the space," he said. "We're not utilizing it day one."

The second floor of the building is unfinished, but will be used for physician office space in the future. Nolan said negotiations have already begun with some doctors, and he said he believes some of the space will be occupied by the end of this year. Eventually, the second floor will house anywhere from 12 to 15 physicians, he said.

And, with this move, things at the hospital have also improved, Nolan said. With the space once occupied by the Occupational Health and Rehabilitation Services, more inpatient programs will be able to grow. The physical therapy space will be renovated for laboratory expansion. And several other programs, including diabetes management, wound care and outpatient clinics are relocating to the space formerly occupied by occupational health.

Parking congestion at the hospital has also been eased by the new building, Nolan said. The outpatient center boasts 182 parking spaces, 30 of which are for handicapped parking.

"The win is the patients who get to utilize the facilities because they're far more accessible," Nolan said.

With this new addition to the hospital, Nolan said he hopes the hospital can remain vital for several more years until another hospital can be built. He said officials hope to buy land for the building within the next year.

"Our goal is to make the hospital function for the next 10 years," he said.

And in the meantime, Dr. Kathleen Kelley, who works at the hospital, said she is highly optimistic about what the new outpatient center can achieve.

"I'm really excited because it gives the community a central place that's convenient," she said. "It'll give a lot of people access to health care."

For more information about membership to the wellness program, contact Andrea Boyd, admitting access specialist, at 635-0739.

* Contact Jessica Coleman at jcoleman@nvdaily.com