PARKERSBURG — U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito toured Camden Clark Medical Center’s new addition as work continued less than two weeks before the new emergency department is set to open.

“It’s beautifully done,” the first-term Republican senator from West Virginia said as Camden Clark President and CEO David McClure and other senior leaders walked her through the 44-bed emergency department Thursday.

But Capito was more interested in function than form as McClure explained how the department was divided into three “pods” where patients will be placed based on the level of care needed.

That way, patients brought in for less serious emergencies wouldn’t be side-by-side with trauma cases or individuals who had suffered heart attacks, said Susan Abdella, director of emergency services.

The department was also designed so as many needed services as possible were clustered together, Abdella said. The emergency department has its own CT scanner and an elevator that can take patients directly to the new unit of 30 private beds set to open in December or January. There’s quick access to operating rooms from there.

“All of our key functions and our key services that are required for patient care (are) literally steps away from the emergency department,” Abdella said.

“The (design) team really did a great job on patient flow,” McClure said.

The emergency department also has a behavioral health unit room and a decontamination area and isolation rooms for patients exposed to highly communicable diseases or potentially hazardous substances.

Capito called it a “magnificent facility.”

“(I’m) particularly impressed with the new emergency room, the way it’s laid out with severity … of care,” she said. “It’s a nice, new way and approach to emergency medicine.”

Abdella told Capito the emergency department currently averages 135 to 170 patients a day. McClure noted that there are 44 rooms in the current department, the same number in the new unit. While the capacity is not larger, “it’s more efficient,” he said.

Emergency care at Camden Clark will continue in the existing department until 7 a.m. Monday, Nov. 7.

The public can get their first look at the new department with tours from 3-5 p.m. Sunday. A ribbon-cutting is planned for 10 a.m. Monday.