Page 4 - MethodistHospital

oving to a new place is always a daunt-ing and challenging endeavor. Imagine moving many different departments of a hospital, including patients and all! That is exactly what Methodist Hospital will do in September. And we’ve been preparing for this move for well over a year. Here is a glimpse of what some of the areas are doing to get ready for the big move and how our patients will beneft.

The new 26-bed, state-of-the-art Hollfelder Emergency Care Center will have all private patient rooms, each with a television and overhead lights. Some beds will have the ability to adjust the head and feet for additional patient comfort. All beds will have new Philips cardiac monitoring. If needed, the two triage rooms may be used for additional patient care.

The four new critical care rooms are equipped like a mini intensive care unit, including overhead surgical

lights and equipment booms with multiple suction outlets, oxygen and medical air. The fve specialty rooms (two obstetrics/gynecology rooms; an or-thopedic room; an ear, nose and throat room; and a room designated for psychiatric patients) will create a safe, comfortable environment for all.

With emergency showers installed, the new ambu-lance bay will accommodate at least fve ambulances and provide the capability to decontaminatemultiple patients. In addition, there will be a negative pressure roomwith a decontamination roomattached (with outside entrance) for patients who are too severely injured to decontaminate themselves.

Emergency services staff is excited about the two nursing stations that will allow the staff to work in teams, and about the bright and cheery windows to let in the sunshine.

Adjacent to the Hollfelder Emergency Care Center is its mirror image—an 18-bed observation unit.

A 24-hour unit with short-stay patients for blood transfusions, chemotherapy, catheterization lab, chest pain and so on, it will also be a rapid-admission unit and will be useful during peak hos-pital census by caring for patients awaiting hospital beds. The observation unit also will have a negative-pressure bronchoscopy room, and all beds will have cardiac and vital sign monitoring capability.

The Food and Nutritional Service department takes the holistic view that the patient dining program and delivery system are an integral part of healing, serving and nourishing patients to help speed the healing process. The new centralized location in the North Tower will allow the staff to ensure that patient tray delivery will be fast and effcient, with access to two elevators in the kitchen—one for Berger Tower and one for the North Tower. Featur-ing new state-of-the-art equipment, the kitchen will also provide patients with healthier and broader selections of comfort food. The current disposable