As we edge closer to the opening of the new six-story Rideout Regional
Medical Center, we keep in mind patient-centered care is one of the values
that drives our mission to improve the wellbeing of everyone in our community
through quality and compassionate health care.
Patient-centered care is not just a buzzword: it is a concept that is becoming
the central aim for the nation's health care system. It requires the
engagement of top leadership, a clearly stated organizational vision,
involvement of patients and families at multiple levels, a supportive
work environment for all employees, systematic measurement and feedback,
quality medical facilities, and supportive information technology.
At Rideout, we are making the substantial investments in time, expertise,
technology, and equipment that will play a big role in achieving patient-centered
care. Physicians, nurses, and all hospital staff are excited about the
way the new Medical Center is coming together. (Last month, we created
mock-up rooms to test the ‘final’ room configuration and design
so that staff can review the rooms in terms of placement and functionality).
We want to share pictures of some of the mock up rooms with you, because
we are certain that you will be excited, too.
3
rd Floor Med/Prep 3
rd Floor Medical/Surgical
3
rd Floor Nourish ED Exam Room
Labor and Delivery
The new Rideout Regional Medical Center will have 104 patient rooms. The
Well Baby Nursery and Maternity Service Unit will occupy the fourth and
fifth floors of the hospital, and is designed to maximize the comfort
and safety of moms and babies, and the convenience of patients and family
members. It will include 48 beds, 36 of which are private rooms, 12 Labor
and Delivery rooms, two C-section suites and 15 bassinets.
Each single-bed room will have separate zones for patient, family and staff.
The patient zone offers a comfortable seating area and amenities such
as a flat-screen television. Large windows offer expansive views and plenty
of natural light.
Medical/Surgical Care will be provided on the second and third floors.
The Cardiovascular Theater and Interventional Radiology will be consolidated
and located on the second floor, with two brand new cath labs, one interventional
radiology room, and a new hybrid room.
The third floor will include telemetry stations where nurses will monitor
vital signs after surgery on patients who do not require the Intensive
Care Unit.
Medication Preparation rooms will be located near each nursing station
to provide effective and efficient medication care for each patient. Also
near each nurse's station: Nourishment Preparation rooms, to better
meet the nutritional needs of our patients.
The Rideout Regional Medical Center expansion will include a new state-of-the-art
data center. This will become our primary data center location. The existing
data center at the Rideout Surgery Center will become the secondary location.
This will allow Rideout Health to have two fully functional and fully
equipped data centers to support the many diverse systems needed to support
a complex, evolving healthcare facility.
Plans are in process now to introduce EPIC, widely considered the best
electronic health record (EHR) system throughout the health care industry,
as part of our patient-centered care strategy. The system is designed
to create one unified patient record system for the entire enterprise
and it incorporates the complete clinical operational spectrum. EPIC will
allow patients to view their medical records, including every aspect of
their lab reports, pharmacy information, and to make appointments with
physicians and reorder prescriptions.
Because health care requires more than performing surgeries and dispensing
medicines, comfortable respite areas are provided on each floor of the
Medical Center and an outdoor garden area is available where patients
and family members can relax.
Of course, on the rooftop is the Helipad, where Life Flight helicopters
can land with patients with severe trauma requiring immediate emergency care.
Theresa Hyer, Director of Emergency Services
We anticipate the new Emergency Department will be opening soon, and we
have taken steps to ensure its operation will be in the hands of a very
qualified manager. Our new Director of Emergency Services, Theresa Hyer,
comes to us from Mercy San Juan-Dignity Health, where she was Manager
of Emergency Services for five years. Last year, Mercy San Juan was recognized
by California Emergency Physicians as Site of the Year for process improvement
in throughput times, and by Dignity Health for Teamwork.
Rideout Health has been undergoing changes at a fundamental level to improve
health care in our community. The investments in time, expertise, technology,
and equipment are real. So is our commitment to patient-centered care.