If Gov. Kay Ivey succeeds in funneling $50 million in Education Trust Fund money to UAB Hospital, it could lead to an expansion of one of the busiest emergency departments in the state.

Ivey recommended the $50 million allocation for what she called “significant expansion” of UAB’s emergency department after UAB President Dr. Ray Watts said their emergency department had reached “emergency levels” of overcrowding.

Watts made the statement during a special meeting called by the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees earlier this month, specifically to address UAB’s overcrowding issues. According to a report shared in the meeting, UAB’s emergency department has experienced a 20 percent increase in patients over the last five years and at least 25 percent of those patients require hospital admission.

During the meeting the board approved temporary alterations to the hospital’s emergency department to manage the issue short-term: signing a 30-month lease on two mobile treatment units from Mobile Health Care Facilities LLC out of Powder Springs, Georgia, and renovating parts of the hospital’s lobby to create 10 additional exam rooms and additional patient waiting areas.

UAB’s report said the interim plan will create 26 additional treatment spaces at a total cost of just under $8.5 million. But Watts stressed that these measures were not a permanent solution.