Powell Valley Healthcare in Powell, Wy., is planning a $1.7 million renovation of the emergency department. that will incorporate a lot more security and privacy for patients, according to an article on the Powell Tribune website.

When the emergency department was constructed in 1984, privacy and security weren’t quite the concern in medicine they are today. It was another 12 years before Congress passed medical privacy regulations, a law referred to today by its acronym HIPAA, the article said.

The emergency department treatment rooms were built without doors; the doorways are covered with only curtains.

The new ER will have four treatment rooms with glass doors with privacy curtains that can be drawn when needed. There will also be glass doors between the four treatment rooms, which will allow staff to create a larger room for those times when a large staff is dealing with an emergency. 

Read the article.