Homer Memorial Hospital Administrator Doug Efferson says new construction on the facility's emergency room, visiting doctors offices, nursing station, and additional modifications is slightly ahead of schedule. “We are expecting to be able to use the new emergency room and related areas later this month,” Efferson noted.

A tour of the construction area indicated workers busily installing equipment throughout the new emergency room including the reception area for the emergency room, related treatment rooms, areas for doctors to meet with patients' families, space for visiting specialists to store personal items while providing care, restrooms for patients and staff, storage space, and much more.

Alice Gandy, coordinator for Claiborne Healthcare Foundation, noted that emergency room nurses “are working in a closet compared to the spacious station they'll move into later this month.”

Efferson mentioned that the construction contract was signed in May, 2007, with a completion date 12 months later; “but if things continue as they have been, it appears they may complete everything in April.”