BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) – Akron Children’s Hospital showed off its new emergency room in Boardman on Wednesday.

Those at the hospital say the new emergency room was needed due to a rise in ER visits.

There are five new treatment rooms and a new triage room. The space has now grown from 9,600 square feet to 34,000 square feet.

Ground was broken for the new addition in the fall of 2021.

Clinical Nurse Manager Nicole Madison had a part in the design process.

“Back in 2020… there was a big team of us that were brought together, and we built this entire place out of cardboard at the old Kmart building in Niles,” Madison recalled.

This project came with a $31 million price tag. It was funded by the community and donors.

“Current emergency room was designed for 80, at peak. This space will well accommodate for both the peak condition as well as our overall needs throughout the year. We could get well over 250 patients and families per day, should we need to in this current space,” said Brian Lapolla, vice president of facilities at Akron Children’s Hospital.

One of the design features is a nursing station that has a clear line of sight to the patients.

“So we had lots of transparency with privacy curtains and then centrally-located nursing stations so that we can get the best coverage with our team within the space,” Lapolla said.

The space will officially open to patients on April 19.