Kalispell Regional begins final phase of ER expansion

As Kalispell Regional Medical Center begins its final piece of an Emergency Services expansion, people making their way to the emergency room this week will encounter construction detours.

Tagen Vine with the Kalispell Regional Healthcare Foundation said from May 8 through May 19, construction will block traffic from the intersection of Claremont Street and Conway Drive to the emergency room’s loading dock.

Vine said during the week-span, detour signs will lead people heading to the department toward a temporary entrance.

Signs will also help travelers find their way to Brendan House, he said.

The construction is part of a $14 million project the hospital began in 2014 to rebuild its Emergency Services Department. The expansion will expand the department from 8,000 to over 37,000 square feet.

Vine said next week’s construction is the last phase of the project, which will renovate the current emergency room and construct an ambulance bay.

“It’s exciting to start this final phase,” Vine said. “Hopefully the new ER will be completely open sometime between Christmas and Valentine’s Day.”

The first phase of the project relocated offices in order to demolish the emergency room waiting and triage areas to make way for upgraded patient-care rooms.

According to the Kalispell Regional Healthcare Foundation, before the expansion, the Emergency Services footprint hadn’t changed since the department was built in 1976.

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at khoughton@dailyinterlake.com.