BLOOMFIELD (KDKA) – Tuesday marked the grand reopening of the West Penn Emergency Room in Bloomfield after a 14-month hiatus.

Within the first few hours of opening, nearly all of the 23 patient rooms were filled.

Albert Buccigrossi, 85, lives less than a block from West Penn Hospital in Bloomfield.

He was devastated when the emergency room closed 14 months ago.

He was emotional again on Tuesday but this time, he had tears of joy. He was the first patient to be treated in the new and improved emergency room.

Many people are thankful to have the emergency room back up and running in their neighborhood and with significant upgrades.

There is new advanced equipment such as a high-tech CT scanner and a new fast-track patient triage system.

All of the changes are welcomed by the community as well as West Penn officials, doctors, nurses and staff.

“This is a great day for us, I’ve worked here for 25 years and everyone is just ecstatic. It’s a wonderful day and we’re living history and we couldn’t wait for this to happen,” Donna Scolieri said.

“The excitement here is [palpable] and you can feel it when you walk the halls of the hospital, which is very exciting,” West Penn Hospital President & CEO Duke Rupert said.

The reopening is thanks to a partnership between West Penn Allegheny Health System and Highmark.

“I am incredibly excited about this opportunity and what we’re going to do going beyond this, so the emergency room and some of the floors that we’ve opened is just the first phase,” Rupert said.

More renovations are already on the table for the future as well as looking at bringing cardiovascular services to the community.

RELATED LINKS

More Local News
More West Penn Hospital News
More Reports From Sarah Arbogast