Connecticut hospital opens new facility

Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, CT, has officially opened its new $31 million emergency department. The new ED has nearly twice the number of beds as before and three times the total space. There's also an array of new technology to streamline patient care, such as bedside registration systems, portable ultrasound equipment, laptops in every room for instant medical histories, and large, high-resolution screens to display digital X-rays. In addition, a new system allows doctors to type medicine and treatment orders directly into the computer.