At the Ready
hopefully, readers will never have to experience roosevelt hospital center's new emergency department. but it's still comforting to know that the two-and-a-half year, $22 million renovation put a state-of-the-art er right in west siders' backyards.
eileen yost, nurse manager of the department, at 1000 10th ave. and west 59th street, collaborated with a team of architects and hospital colleagues to map out a 27,300-square-foot space, about 60 percent larger than the old one.
"we were acutely aware that we needed more surge capacity in the event of a catastrophe," said dan wiener, chairman of emergency medicine at st. luke's-roosevelt hospital center, and a practicing physician. "so we've thought of ways in which a lot of the spaces could rapidly be transformed."
in 2007, the state shuttered nearby st. clare's hospital, and roosevelt began receiving approximately 50 more emergency patients a day. the er was already overburdened, admitting between 45,000 and 50,000 patients a year in a 21-bed space that was poorly lit and confining. the new er is capable of meeting its 4 percent annual increase of emergency patients, which reached around 70,000 in 2009.
the new department, which officially reopened in september 2009, features improved functionality and better patient privacy. critically ill patients who require resuscitation are treated in a distinct suite, as are victims of sexual assault. there are also areas for stroke, asthma and cardiac patients.
"the process has been streamlined, no matter where the patients end up," said nick cagliuso, director of emergency management for continuum health partners, parent company of st. luke's-roosevelt hospital center. "the suites help tailor the care and the flow of that care."
a five-level triage system speedily moves the patient through to the appropriate treatment area.
"it gets people going through the system in a very timely way," wiener said.
a doctor, assigned on the basis of availability, typically reaches a diagnosis within a couple of hours of a patient's arrival. each physician and nurse works with a designated team during a given shift.
doctors and nurses don't have to waste time hunting down equipment, as the department's 50 rooms have portable carts containing all the necessary tools and supplies.
"the new process makes it easier to do my job," wiener said. "everything that i need is in the room, and i know which nurse i must talk to."
the department also contains a high- resolution ct scan machine and an electronic database that allows staff to review a patient's entire medical history with a click of the mouse. new x-ray machines create digital images that enable physicians to make faster diagnoses without leaving the room.
to prevent the spread of dangerous contagious illnesses, the er now has nine isolation rooms (up from the three it previously had), each with its own ventilator system to confine germs. a "fast track" suite was refurbished to expedite non-critical care for patients with minor ailments, such as lacerations or sprained muscles.
the rooms also have flexible procedure lights and a language phone line that provides interpreters for non-english- speaking patients. separating beds, a wall is now equipped with medical instruments to be shared by two patients in a room.
to access instruments in the old set-up, "you would have to kind of crawl over the patient before," wiener said. "now i can easily pick and choose what i need for both patients."