St. Luke's to announce $14M expansion
Changes will make medical care more efficient, officials say
By Dave Dreeszen, Copyright 2008 Sioux City Journal | Posted: Monday, October 06, 2008
This is an architect’s rendering of the expansion at St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center. Architects for the project are Cannon, Moss, Brygger & Associates. (Submitted photo)
SIOUX CITY -- St. Luke's Regional Medical Center plans today to announce a $14 million expansion that will modernize and enlarge its surgical areas, give surgical patients greater privacy and establish a single main entrance.
Construction is expected to begin this fall on an 8,700-square-feet addition on the hospital's north end, on top of an existing parking lot. After completion of that work, an existing 25,000 square feet of first-floor surgical space would be renovated.
St. Luke's CEO and president Peter Thoreen said the project, one of the hospital's largest ever, would greatly enhance patient flow and provide medical personnel with the most advanced equipment and technology.
"Staff has designed this so they can deliver the most efficient care possible," he said in an exclusive interview with the Journal.
St. Luke's will hold a news conference today to formally announce the project, set for completion in March 2011. The plans include closing the current patient admitting entrance on the north end, and relocating it to the visitors' entrance on the east side along Pierce Street.
"It decreases confusion -- that's one of the biggest things for patients," said Dr. Steve Church, St. Luke's operating room manager. "We can focus on just one entrance into the hospital."
As part of the expansion and remodeling, the hospital also would add private pre-operative and post-operative rooms. Each room would have its own bathroom.
Thoreen offered assurances that construction would not disrupt surgical services. The CEO noted he can't think of another hospital that has remodeled an existing OR, or operating room. Most opt for all-new construction.
"Luckily, we have enough first-floor space that we can do the new construction of the main operating room and then go back and reconfigure and remodel," he said. "It gives us all of the brand new, up-to-date number of rooms that we'll need for the future."
Thoreen said the updates to the hospital's surgical areas, built in 1972, would complement St. Luke's same-day surgery center, which opened five years ago, just across Pierce Street from the hospital. The outpatient center was part of a more-than-$20 million project that also included a five-story parking garage.
"We're going to have the best of both worlds -- a really up-to-date in-patient surgery program, as well as the SDS across the street," he said.
Under the latest expansion plan, the size of the hospital's in-patient surgical rooms would grow by about 200 square feet, to roughly 650 square feet, Church said.
"It'll give us a lot of room, a lot of area to work," he said.
The rooms would be big enough to accommodate state-of-the-art equipment the hospital plans to invest in. Flat-screen, high-definition monitors would provide better image quality and ease image comparison. Mounted on boom arms, the monitors can be moved to allow physicians to easily view images without turning their heads, he said.
Dr. Romano Adajar, an anesthesiologist, noted hospital staff are now often required to move equipment from one room to another. The expansion would put an end to that time-consuming process.
"By having these rooms ready, that cuts down on the patient wait time," said Dr. Taunhi Hunt, an OBGYN with Siouxland Obstetrics and Gynecology, who has patients that use St. Luke's OR.
Church, Adajar and Hunt said the new OR design, which ties together every room in the surgical area, would allow physicians to better manage their time and schedules, as well as help patients get in and out more quickly.
Revamping of the surgical area includes relocating the hospital's decontamination and sterile process center from the lower level to the first floor. Currently, a small elevator cart is used to transport dirty surgical instruments from the first floor to the lower level, and then back up again after they are cleaned and sterilized, said Marian Schuldt, director of surgical services.
Having the entire surgical staff on the same floor will have increased efficiencies and enhance teamwork, she said.
The expansion project, which received unanimous support from St. Luke's board of directors and its parent, Iowa Health System, will be funded with a combination of cash and bonds issued by Iowa Health System, Thoreen said.
St. Luke's performs more than 5,000 surgeries annually on the hospital's first floor, including total joint, abdominal, chest and thyroid procedures.
By the Numbers
14 -- Cost of expansion in millions of dollars.
8,700 -- Additional square feet to be added.
25,000 -- Existing square feet to be renovated.
1 -- Main entrance for patients and visitors..
2011 -- Year project is set for completion
Construction is expected to begin this fall on an 8,700-square-feet addition on the hospital's north end, on top of an existing parking lot. After completion of that work, an existing 25,000 square feet of first-floor surgical space would be renovated.
St. Luke's CEO and president Peter Thoreen said the project, one of the hospital's largest ever, would greatly enhance patient flow and provide medical personnel with the most advanced equipment and technology.
"Staff has designed this so they can deliver the most efficient care possible," he said in an exclusive interview with the Journal.
St. Luke's will hold a news conference today to formally announce the project, set for completion in March 2011. The plans include closing the current patient admitting entrance on the north end, and relocating it to the visitors' entrance on the east side along Pierce Street.
"It decreases confusion -- that's one of the biggest things for patients," said Dr. Steve Church, St. Luke's operating room manager. "We can focus on just one entrance into the hospital."
As part of the expansion and remodeling, the hospital also would add private pre-operative and post-operative rooms. Each room would have its own bathroom.
Thoreen offered assurances that construction would not disrupt surgical services. The CEO noted he can't think of another hospital that has remodeled an existing OR, or operating room. Most opt for all-new construction.
"Luckily, we have enough first-floor space that we can do the new construction of the main operating room and then go back and reconfigure and remodel," he said. "It gives us all of the brand new, up-to-date number of rooms that we'll need for the future."
Thoreen said the updates to the hospital's surgical areas, built in 1972, would complement St. Luke's same-day surgery center, which opened five years ago, just across Pierce Street from the hospital. The outpatient center was part of a more-than-$20 million project that also included a five-story parking garage.
"We're going to have the best of both worlds -- a really up-to-date in-patient surgery program, as well as the SDS across the street," he said.
Under the latest expansion plan, the size of the hospital's in-patient surgical rooms would grow by about 200 square feet, to roughly 650 square feet, Church said.
"It'll give us a lot of room, a lot of area to work," he said.
The rooms would be big enough to accommodate state-of-the-art equipment the hospital plans to invest in. Flat-screen, high-definition monitors would provide better image quality and ease image comparison. Mounted on boom arms, the monitors can be moved to allow physicians to easily view images without turning their heads, he said.
Dr. Romano Adajar, an anesthesiologist, noted hospital staff are now often required to move equipment from one room to another. The expansion would put an end to that time-consuming process.
"By having these rooms ready, that cuts down on the patient wait time," said Dr. Taunhi Hunt, an OBGYN with Siouxland Obstetrics and Gynecology, who has patients that use St. Luke's OR.
Church, Adajar and Hunt said the new OR design, which ties together every room in the surgical area, would allow physicians to better manage their time and schedules, as well as help patients get in and out more quickly.
Revamping of the surgical area includes relocating the hospital's decontamination and sterile process center from the lower level to the first floor. Currently, a small elevator cart is used to transport dirty surgical instruments from the first floor to the lower level, and then back up again after they are cleaned and sterilized, said Marian Schuldt, director of surgical services.
Having the entire surgical staff on the same floor will have increased efficiencies and enhance teamwork, she said.
The expansion project, which received unanimous support from St. Luke's board of directors and its parent, Iowa Health System, will be funded with a combination of cash and bonds issued by Iowa Health System, Thoreen said.
St. Luke's performs more than 5,000 surgeries annually on the hospital's first floor, including total joint, abdominal, chest and thyroid procedures.
By the Numbers
14 -- Cost of expansion in millions of dollars.
8,700 -- Additional square feet to be added.
25,000 -- Existing square feet to be renovated.
1 -- Main entrance for patients and visitors..
2011 -- Year project is set for completion
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Steve wrote on Oct 7, 2008 11:05 PM:
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