CHI Health Bergan Mercy ED and Level – 1 Trauma Center

The new CHI Health Creighton University Medical Center Bergan Mercy merges Creighton University Medical Center with CHI Health Bergan Mercy Medical Center. Together they form a contemporary, leading academic health system.

The $140 million expansion, renovation and consolidation project moved trauma functions and academic medical center operations from near downtown Omaha to an existing, more centrally-located Omaha site. Today this facility is one of only two Level-I trauma centers in the city. The effort also involved the design of a new 138,500-SF ambulatory clinic, as well as 263,200 SF of complex renovation encompassing the emergency department and intensive care unit.

The emergency department renovation and expansion were sequential to maintain functionality of the space during construction. Along with contractors, our team built full-scale mock-ups of the trauma bays, emergency department spaces and ICU rooms in a former laundry area to test the open design with its future users. Trauma surgeons consulted on the design of the space, resulting in wide-open trauma bays so they can see multiple casualties at once.

The fully-renovated emergency and trauma departments include 21 exam rooms, six vertical patient stations, safe hold rooms, a sexual assault treatment suite, isolation rooms, four trauma bays and a 10-room clinical decision unit. The facility also has a four-vehicle enclosed drive-through garage, as well as a helipad, which is required of a Level-1 trauma center.