Among the top complaints of people who report to the emergency room for treatment is hours of waiting for treatment because of long lines.

With the completion of new 8,000-square foot Emergency Room Department at Bogalusa’s Our Lady of the Angels Hospital, long hours waiting for treatment should be a thing of the past.

The expansion project has taken a little more than a year to complete. The expansion is the first phase of a two-phase process.

“This is a very exciting day for Our Lady of the Angels Hospital and the people of Washington Parish and the surrounding areas. It has been a long time coming, but it was well worth the wait. This expansion will help our skilled team of health care professionals provide an even better treatment experience for the patients we are privileged to serve,” said Our Lady of the Angels Hospital President/CEO Rene Ragas.

The new Emergency Department began serving patients on Thursday.

“It’s going to make a tremendous difference in the community as far as peoples’ comfort is concerned,” Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System Marketing Director Jon Hirsch said. “It greatly exceeds our capacity and speeds up the time to be seen in the emergency room.”

Included in the first phase is an all-new Emergency Department featuring a trauma bay, a dedicated decontamination area, multiple private registration desks, dedicated entrances for walk-in patients and ambulances, all new advanced medical equipment and a waiting area four times larger than the previously existing space. The expansion also includes a new main entrance with a covered drive through, a new lobby, private, outpatient registration bays and a new hospital gift shop.

“There is also lot of natural lighting,” Hirsch said. “It’s comforting to have natural lighting in that it helps healing.”

The second phase will see the remodeling of the existing Emergency Department space. When both phases are complete, the emergency department will have 17 beds with all private rooms. That is up from the eight beds the department previously held.

“These rooms are very spacious and patient-friendly and comfortable,” Hirsch said. “We have a brand new Emergency Department waiting area about four times larger for comfort of family members who are waiting. That is big.”

On Thursday, approximately 150 hospital officials attended the blessing of the new Emergency Department.