When U Hospital surgeons gave Emily Roosevelt a new heart, it gave her another chance at life. Roosevelt returned with her family a year later to celebrate the completion of the hospital’s $200 million expansion, three years in the making.
The opening of the new hospital wing marks a new era in patient care, the hospital’s number one priority. The expansion has allowed the hospital to become more patient-centered and helps to better serve the community with its Patient Care Pavilion, a wing with private rooms that better ensure their health and privacy, said U President Michael K. Young.
With the expansion completed, patients will be admitted to private rooms where they can heal in a peaceful environment. Before, the hospital had only a handful of private rooms that had been donated, said Steve Warner, associate vice president of health sciences.
With semi-private rooms, the risk of spreading infection and the number of medical errors greatly increases. The 103 new private rooms ensure a patient’s privacy is better protected, so they no longer have to worry about roommates keeping them from their sleep.
The private rooms will be available beginning August 13. The remaining semi-private rooms will be decommissioned and converted to private rooms, a process that will take nine months to complete, Warner said. The lobby, cafeteria, and pharmacy were also expanded, providing more space to better fit the needs of the patients.
“It’s like getting a brand new hospital,” Warner said. “We owe a lot to the donors. It was a whole community collaborative effort to make this possible.”
Another new addition to the hospital is a pod nursery, which helps to keep nurses closer to the mothers and their babies. Last January, the hospital was the first in Utah to become a World Health Organization- and UNICEF-certified Baby Friendly Hospital, said Elizabeth Smith, a pre-natal education coordinator. To receive the designation, the hospital staff became better educated in breastfeeding support and providing mothers with the knowledge of how to give their newborn food.
“It’s an initiative to support breast-feeding mothers, with the ten steps to successful breast-feeding,” Smith said.
Roosevelt acted as master of ceremonies at the hospital ribbon-cutting ceremony July 16. David Entwistle, CEO of U Hospital and Clinics, was in good spirit as he joked with the audience about his recent experience as a patient in the hospital. Entwistle was involved in a bicycle accident in May and had been critically injured when he fell off his bicycle and hit his head.
“You can’t fully appreciate the facilities we have until you have a chance to find out for yourself,” he said. “The nurses and physicals are a truly talented, dedicated and compassionate group.”
As the Intermountain West’s only academic health care system, the hospital alone provides Utah citizens with not only medical treatment, but student medical training without having to travel out of state. It is also home to teams of international research facilities to advance the well-being of the patients, said Lorris Betz, senior vice president U health sciences and CEO of U Health Care.
“Emily’s story reminds us as to why we’re here in the end,” Young said. “This is a place where miracles happened.”
Avideo story of the UHospital’s ribbon-cutting can be viewed atwww.youtube.com/watch