Fully open, Emergency Department in Wellington announces virtual blessing
Submitted to Sumner Newscow — The Ascension Via Christi Emergency Department in Wellington, which opened its doors to round-the-clock walk-in patients on Monday, March 15, is now open to patients coming in by ambulance as well.
A virtual blessing and dedication celebrating the filling of the void created when the hospital suddenly ceased operations a year ago are scheduled for 4 p.m. Monday, March 29, on Ascension Via Christi’s Facebook Live.
“Thanks to Ascension Via Christi, community-based emergency care is once available to Sumner County residents,” said Wellington Mayor Jim Valentine. “We are tremendously pleased that they have stepped in to help provide this essential service.”
The new Ascension Via Christi full-service ER occupies 9,850 square feet of space within the former hospital at 1323 N. A Street. The extensively remodeled facility, which continues to be owned by the City of Wellington, features diagnostic imaging, laboratory, pharmacy, and other support services required by a hospital ER.
Open 24/7, the ER is a department of Ascension Via Christi Hospitals Wichita, which includes Ascension Via Christi St. Francis and Ascension Via Christi St. Joseph. It features a triage area, four exam rooms and a procedure room.
Jacob Reed, DO, a board-certified Emergency Medicine specialist, serves as its medical director, and Tammy Northrop, RN, as nursing director for the Ascension Via Christi St. Joseph and Wellington emergency departments.
The opening of the Wellington ER marks the second time that Ascension Via Christi has stepped in to restore close-to-home access to emergency care following the closure of a rural Kansas hospital. In February 2019, Ascension Via Christi opened a similar ER in Fort Scott, Kansas, as a department of its hospital in Pittsburg.
It also is the second time in the past year that Ascension Via Christi has made a significant investment to ensure Sumner County residents’ access to primary care services for years to come.
In October 2020, the Sumner County Family Care Center family medicine clinics in Wellington and Mulvane became part of Ascension Medical Group Via Christi.
To tune into the blessing, go to facebook.com/viachristihealth/live.
