LAKELAND, Fla. — Lakeland Regional Health celebrated the grand opening of its first freestanding emergency department Monday.

The goal is to improve access to care for Polk County’s growing population. The medical center has repeatedly been ranked the second-busiest emergency room in the nation, according to Becker’s Hospital Review, a medical trade industry magazine. The opening of the freestanding emergency room brought relief to medical staff, including James Wright.

“Very exciting for me and our entire team to be able to come to a facility like this,” he said.

Wright joined the hospital’s main campus as a registered nurse 25 years ago. Since becoming the president of emergency services, he has witnessed Polk County’s rapid growth firsthand, especially in South Lakeland. Now, with the new ER, he says the medical center can better meet the growing demand.

“The goal really was to provide access to the residents of South Lakeland and have an area much closer to home for them that could provide all of the same emergency services that we can at the main campus,” he said.

On average, Wright says emergency room staff see over 500 patients per day and more than 200,000 patients each year. The freestanding department will help alleviate some of the workload by providing 20 additional beds and three triage rooms. It also offers 24-hour access to pediatric care, lab results, CT scans and X-rays.

If patients need further care, Wright says ambulances will be available to transfer them to the hospital.

“We aren’t transporting patients out of the county. We are Lakeland Regional, and the patients will stay here with us in the community, and that’s very important to them as well,” Wright said.

Wright foresees the freestanding emergency department becoming a valuable part of the community. Though the facility has been open for less than a week, he’s already looking forward to seeing more across the county.