TMC Emergency Room unveils $27M renovations

TMC’s emergency department underwent $27 million of renovations, adding 40 new treatment areas and eliminating hallway beds. (TMC Health Foundation/Submitted) A gathering at Tucson Medical Center was slated to involve tours of its emergency department (ED), freshly outfitted with $27 million in renovations.But no tour could demonstrate the project’s value so much as TMC’s cancellation of the tours on account of an ED brimming with patients, or a “code purple,” as it was described.“We just opened today, and every room is full,” said Tim Bentley, assistant vice president of communications and marketing. “Yeah, we were going to give tours today,” added Deb Dale, vice president and chief development officer of TMC Health Foundation. “And they were like, ‘We’re in code purple. You can’t — it’s too, too busy.”The facility was built in 1990, when Tucson’s population was about half of what it is today. Now, TMC is the second busiest emergency room in Arizona and the 49th in the nation.

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