When Walton's Delaware Valley Hospital officially opens its new emergency department at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, it will be the culmination of a four-year dream that almost didn't come true.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony expected to include area legislators is scheduled for 10 a.m., preceding the open house and health and safety fair.
Dotti Kruppo, Delaware Valley spokeswoman, said the ceremony is happening almost exactly a year after construction began and about four years after the first steps were taken.
"We talked about it for years," Kruppo said Friday. "On July 28, 2004, we had our first serious meeting with the Industrial Development Agency, state and federal officials and the USDA to share our vision and talk about what we wanted to see happen."
Kruppo said a vital step was becoming a critical-access hospital, which opened the possibility of applying for a $1.5 million HEAL N.Y. grant through the IDA in August 2006.
"We were all imagining how wonderful the center would be, and then the grant was approved on Thanksgiving weekend," Kruppo said.
The hospital applied for a certificate of need from the state, a process that takes up to six months, but officials soon learned after June 2007, the legislation allowing grants through the IDA would expire.
"Everything had to be expedited," Kruppo said. "We were coming down to the wire and we were on the phone constantly begging the state to issue the certificate."
Kruppo said the closing on the loan was June 28, two days before the deadline.
"It was meant to be," Kruppo said. "And we actually opened the doors on June 25, almost a year to the day from the closing on the loan."
DVH public relations spokeswoman Stacie Haynes said, "The emergency room area is so much bigger and brighter. People are just going to love it."
Haynes said the emergency department has a private registration area, five examination/treatment rooms with seven beds and private triage areas.
The imaging center features new CT scan equipment and fluoroscopy, Haynes added.
The health and safety fair, which will run from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., will include a tour as well as:
ä Bicycle safety and helmet fittings with the Walton Police Department.
ä Seat-belt safety demonstrations by the state police "Convincer."
ä Car seat checks by the Delaware County Public Health Department.
ä Fall prevention by the DVH physical therapy staff.
ä Delaware County Safe Against Violence.
ä United Health Services asthma education program.
ä Delaware County Sheriff's Department "Are You Okay?" program.
ä Walton Fire Department fire safety program.
ä Free screenings for blood pressure, blood sugar and osteoporosis.
Haynes said there will be also food, beverages, balloons and face painting.
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Patricia Breakey can be reached at 746-2894 or at stardelhi@stny.rr.com.
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