Prepping for surgery
25-bed Parkview LaGrange Hospital gets ready to open
A distinct new-car smell, freshly painted walls and newly carpeted floors mixed with the buzz of drills and the sight of bright red hardhats.
Cutting through the clamor, a small group of health care officials and media toured the newest addition to Parkview Health: a $25 million, 25-bed critical-access hospital, which is scheduled to open to patients July 17.
Parkview LaGrange Hospital, at 207 N. Townline Road in LaGrange, will replace the current hospital to its south that opened in 1950. The old building is expected to be razed by October.
Inside one of two spacious surgery suites, Dr. Joseph Greenlee Jr., medical staff president, said the new hospital will offer total hip and knee surgery and more advanced gynecological operations not done at the current hospital.
Equipment in the operating room – such as an anesthesia machine to octopus-like lighting structures overhead and curtains that can be lowered from the ceiling – moves easily to accommodate different procedures and patient needs, officials said.
The surgery department is about four times the size of the current surgery department, which has one operating room – about half the size of a new surgery suite – and a recovery room that can be converted to an operating room in emergencies.
The 75,661-square-foot, two-story building has the same inpatient bed count as its predecessor, but it gains more than 20,000 square feet. The extra space is spread throughout the hospital from a bigger ER and surgery department to all-private patient rooms.
The hospital also has a walk-out lower level, with an expanded lab area, administrative offices, a cafeteria and dining room adjacent to a patio. It complements the window-heavy hospital and stands in stark contrast to the standard basement at the current hospital.
The primary objective is to make the patient’s experience more convenient, comfortable and private, said Bob Bloomfield, director of plant operations. Radiology, surgery, testing and all other outpatient services, which are offered on the first floor, encircle a central lobby area.
“Everything is designed for ease of access,” Bloomfield said.
That goes for medical personnel monitoring patients as well.
Inpatient rooms are on the outside of the second floor, making it easier for staff to monitor patients from stations in the center. Exam rooms on the first floor, including those in the ER, also wrap around central monitoring areas.
And RoboDoc, a remote monitoring program used at all other Parkview hospitals, will now be used at Parkview LaGrange. The robot’s head is a screen featuring the image of the medical professional controlling it. The staff member can see the patient through two camera lenses atop the screen that look much like eyes.
The technology raises the level of care for critically ill patients, officials said. In addition, monitoring systems built into two of the hospital’s electronic rooms transmit patient data to a nursing station at the hospital and to board-certified intensivists – critical care physicians – off site.
mschroeder@jg.net