Uniontown Hospital begins renovation of operating room facilities
Kelly Tunney | Herald-Standard
Part of a multi-million dollar renovation of the operating room facility at Uniontown Hospital, a large crane was assembled last month to lift a 90,000-pound air-handling unit to the hospital’s roof that will be used to circulate air in the OR to help provide infection control.
Part of a multi-million dollar renovation of the operating room (OR) facility at Uniontown Hospital, a large crane was assembled last month to lift a 90,000 pound air handling unit to the hospital’s roof that will be used to circulate air in the OR to help provide infection control.
A large crane lifts one of six air-handling units that will be placed atop Uniontown Hopsital as part of a multi-million dollar renovation of its operating room facilities.
A large crane lifts one of six air-handling units that will be placed atop Uniontown Hopsital as part of a multi-million dollar renovation of its operating room facilities.
A large crane lifts one of six air-handling units that will be placed atop Uniontown Hopsital as part of a multi-million dollar renovation of its operating room facilities.
Part of a fall 2015 multi-million dollar renovation of the operating room (OR) facility at Uniontown Hospital, a large crane was assembled to lift a 90,000 pound air handling unit to the hospital’s roof that will be used to circulate air in the OR to help provide infection control.
Uniontown Hospital began work in October to update its operating room (OR) facilities in one of the hospital largest renovation projects in recent years.
The $6 million renovation will improve navigation and enhance technology at a 25,000-square-foot surgical care center that performs 10,000 surgeries a year in what hospital executives are calling an attempt to adapt to a changing health care industry.
Seventy-five percent of surgeries completed in the facility’s eight operating rooms and two special procedure rooms are performed on an outpatient basis, meaning the patient is discharged from the hospital the same day of the surgery, said Mark Dillon, executive director of the hospital’s emergency, surgical and imaging services.
“Surgery has changed significantly since the current surgical services area was constructed in the late 1980s,” Dillon said. “As a result of this shift to more outpatient surgeries, we saw an opportunity to improve access, efficiency, comfort and privacy for our patients and their families.”
The current facility was constructed under the premise that patients undergoing surgery would stay at the hospital for several days for observation and recovery, but that is no longer the case, Dillon said.
“Thanks to advances in medicine, we are able to perform less invasive procedures while also utilizing state-of-the-art anesthesia practices, both of which help contribute to shorter stays and quicker recoveries,” said Dillon.
The four-phase project is expected to be completed in June 2017, with the OR remaining open during the duration of the renovation. As work is performed on sections of the facility, usable areas will be utilized for regular OR services as the hospital moves staff, patients and equipment depending on which section is being worked on, said Dillon.
“The biggest challenge is trying to renovate an occupied space,” said hospital executive director of support services Don Record.
“We want our patients to know that the services they depend on us for will be ongoing,” added hospital spokesman Josh Krysak.
The shift toward outpatient surgeries, coupled with feedback from patient surveys indicating difficulty in navigating the OR facility, prompted the hospital to overhaul the department.
Record said the current layout of the OR requires patients to move through the facility unintuitively. Surveys show that the surgical services area is difficult to find, he said, so the new layout, with a centrally located nurses station, will improve “ease of access.”
The hospital worked with architects for six months to address navigation issues and to determine the number of rooms needed based on recent patient volume, said Record.
During the planning stage, a mock patient room was configured to give staff the opportunity to provide input on how the rooms would be set up. The rooms, with hard walls rather than curtains, will provide patients with more privacy and allow the hospital better infection control than currently offered, said Dillon and Record.
In the new plan, services were consolidated to better utilize the space, resulting in the number of patient bays — which in the past was always in flux — to be increased to 25, said Dillon. While surgeries and endoscopes will continue to be performed in the OR, blood transfusions will be moved to another area of the hospital.
Also new to the OR will be a digital tracking board for family members to follow patients through the surgical process, and the ability for the hospital to privately text patient updates to family members’ cell phones. The hospital will also introduce a new cardiac monitoring system to enhance monitoring capabilities.
The OR renovation is largest single renovation project since 2010 and the fourth significant renovation undertaken at the facility this year.
“Hopefully it starts to show (and) you see improvements to the building,” said Record.
The hospital overhauled its Environmental Services Department earlier this year, opened the newly renovated Family Beginnings Birthing Center in June and unveiled a refurbished Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit (IRU) in October.
The IRU, now located on the first floor of the hospital, increased in size from 5,600 square feet to more than 8,500 square feet, adding private rooms and implementing specialty care amenities.
The hospital’s 100-member surgical staff includes 39 surgeons in several disciplines, six anesthesiologists and 18 certified registered nurse anesthetists, as well as nurses, technicians, aides and clerical support.
The hospital was recognized last year by The Joint Commission — the leading accreditor of health care organizations in the U.S. — as a top performing hospital for surgical care, and is one of eight facilities in the state to be designated a Center of Excellence in Minimally Invasive Gynecology by AAGL.
“We know we provide high quality care. Now we’re in the position to look at how we can improve the experience of the patients and their families. That’s what is really driving us,” said Dillon. “There is a tremendous passion in this organization to make sure we are the premier provider in the community.”