Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health is set to move between 50 and 70 patients from its downtown Fargo, N.D.-based hospital to its new $494 million medical center in southwest Fargo, The Bismarck Tribune reports.
Sanford staff and Health Care Relocations, an Ontario-based provider of hospital relocation services, began moving medical equipment and closing operating rooms at the downtown facility last Friday. On Tuesday, staff will begin moving emergency department patients and other patients requiring uninterrupted treatment to the new facility, according to the report.
The downtown ED will close at 5 a.m. Tuesday as the new complex simultaneously opens. During the transition, patients admitted at the old ED will be transported via ambulance to the new complex. Twelve ambulances, several borrowed from other regional ambulance services, will make the 15-mile roundtrip transfer in about an hour per patient, including time required to sanitize equipment, the report states.
The downtown hospital will retain some of its services, such as its laboratory, as it becomes a clinic, the report states.
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