Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 8, 1994 TAG: 9401080052
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Surgeons will be able to do more operations because of the design, space, equipment, technology and procedures on the new surgical floor.
For patients, it will mean shorter waiting periods and lower costs for surgery.
Speedier surgeries mean lower costs for patients because they are charged for the time they are in the operating room, said Michael Ballantyne, hospital vice president for surgery and central service.
Doctors now average 250 to 300 operations a week at the hospital. With the new surgical facilities, they could perform up to 350 a week, hospital administrators say.
Because of the heavy demand for surgery and the hospital's limited space, some operations are not performed until late afternoon or night, Ballantyne said.
If a surgeon has a patient who needs surgery quickly, he said, it must be coordinated with the heavy demand on the surgical suites.
The hospital is not turning away patients needing surgery, he said, but the addition will help reduce the need for late-day operations.
The 17 new operating rooms will be larger and contain the latest technology. They can accommodate larger surgical teams. Three will be for open-heart surgery and seven will have equipment for neurological and orthopedic surgery and other specialties, Ballantyne said.
The hospital now has 15 operating rooms, including two for heart surgery. But few of them are designed for specific types of surgery.
The hospital's surgical floor was built in the late 1960s and early 1970s. There has been a boom in technology and state-of-the-art equipment in the past two decades.
The hospital will begin moving into the addition next week, but not into the new surgical facilities until later this month.
Changes in the new surgical facilities and procedures include:
The new surgical floor will have a 12-bed holding unit for patients waiting to go into surgery.
The old surgical floor had no room to hold patients before they entered surgery. Patients were brought from their rooms when the surgery suite was available, and sometimes held in an alcove.
Anesthesia and other preparations couldn't begin until patients entered suites, causing a 15- to 20-minute delay. The holding area will provide more privacy for patients and efficiency for physicians.
Surgeons will have quicker access to diagnostic findings. Lab samples will be analyzed on the surgery floor itself. This will decrease waiting and shorten surgeries.
The new surgical facilities will have state-of-the-art equipment for X-rays, body scans and other technology that provide doctors with images inside the body. All new surgery suites are wired for teleradiology terminals. This video system can instantly retrieve patient imaging records for quick review.
All of the fourth floor in the new building will be used for surgery.
In addition, three new surgery suites and support services for open-heart surgery will be on the sixth floor. The hospital will be able to do six open-heart operations a day, Ballantyne said, instead of the three or four it can do now.
The new addition will have a 22-bed fully-monitored recovery unit for patients who have just completed surgery. This is double the current number of recovery beds.
The new surgical floor will have more storage space, making it easier for doctors and nurses to gather the supplies they need for an operation.
The current surgical floor lacks adequate storage space. The staff has to gather instruments and supplies from several locations, wasting time.
With the new equipment and procedures, the staff will load case carts the night before they are needed. The carts will be sent to surgery by special elevators.
The surgical facilities on the fifth floor in the west pavilion will be converted to private patient rooms.
by CNB