Healthy Hospitals
SJ medical facilities continue to expand and improve

 

From expansions to high-tech upgrades, SJ hospitals have continued to improve services and stay competitive amid the rapid changes affecting the healthcare field.

Over the past year, local medical facilities have made a wide range of developments designed to meet rising demands and successfully compete for patients. Combined with innovative procedures and specialized care options, they’ve solidified their status as some of the leading institutions in the country.

SJ hospitals are also economic strongholds in our communities. The 2011 Economic Impact Report from the New Jersey Hospital Association shows that hospitals throughout the region made more than $4 billion in total expenditures and employed over 25,000 full-time staff members in 2010. And, according to healthcare executives, that fiscal and labor impact will only continue to grow in the coming years.

 

Building up

In the last 12 months, a number of building projects at SJ hospitals reflected strong growth within local healthcare organizations.

One of the largest projects was completed in May when the $463 million Virtua Voorhees hospital opened its doors. The 368-bed, 680,000-square-foot medical center is divided into three areas – Women and Children’s, Medical/Surgical and Obstetrics – and features numerous upgrades and cutting-edge technology.

Though the hospital has been fully operational for nearly eight months, construction on an adjacent ambulatory care center is still ongoing. Slated to open in spring 2012, the 300,000-square-foot building will offer comprehensive patient services, including the Virtua Joint Replacement Institute, same-day surgery suites and a women’s imaging center.

In Atlantic County, Shore Medical Center recently rebranded itself as part of a $125 million expansion project. "In designing the facility, we wanted to create a platform that could handle sophisticated surgeries and also be a footprint to move forward with the medical technology of the future,” explains the facility’s President and CEO, Ron Johnson.

Shore Medical Center President and CEO Ron Johnson
 inside the facility's new surgical pavilion

Kennedy University Health System is also growing. In September, its Cherry Hill hospital completed work on a $9.7 million, 5,000-square-foot expansion of its emergency room, taking the number of treatment bays from 17 to 29. Other improvements completed by Kennedy include a 12-bed acute care unit for elders at its Stratford hospital and a new $5.7 million interventional neurosurgery suite in the Washington Township hospital.

Branching out

To bring care closer to patients across the region, many hospitals have focused on strengthening satellite offices and outpatient centers.

"It’s important to provide care in locations where it’s convenient for our patients,” says Susan Bass Levin, president and CEO of Cooper University Health System’s Cooper Foundation. Cooper currently operates more than 50 physician offices throughout SJ, including a bariatric surgery center in Voorhees and a pediatric allergy, asthma and immunology facility in Sewell.

Construction on the Cooper Cancer Institute
in Camden will begin in April 201

The health system is in the early stages of adding a new cancer center to its lineup. "We’re breaking ground in April 2012,” says Bass Levin. Once completed in 2013, the Camden facility will, according to Bass Levin, "provide comprehensive, multidisciplinary oncology services all in one building.” Cooper’s other cancer institute in Voorhees will also undergo technology upgrades in 2012.

After experiencing nearly 35 percent growth in SJ over the past three years, the Rothman Institute has made the strategic decision to open a new office in Marlton. The Philadelphia-based orthopedic institute already has locations in Voorhees, Washington Township, Cherry Hill, Egg Harbor Township and Manahawkin. Rothman officials expect the Marlton facility to ease the large patient volume at the nearby Voorhees office when it opens in early 2012. It will feature 45 exam rooms, three X-ray rooms and several epidural injection suites.

Virtua is also expanding its health and wellness center offerings beyond its existing Washington Township and Voorhees locations. The doors to the health system’s Moorestown center will open in late 2012, complete with exercise, nutrition and support programs for local residents. A fourth center on the Virtua Voorhees campus is in the planning stages.

 

Advancing technology

Doctors, nurses and patients alike are benefiting from technology that Rich Miller, CEO of Virtua, calls "incredible.” He singles out the RFID, or radio-frequency identification, technology that’s in use at Virtua Voorhees.

"We have implemented RFID tags on all equipment and on patient wristbands so our staff can know where everything and everyone is anytime of the day. It’s essentially like a GPS,” he explains. "We can now get equipment where it needs to be within minutes and get to patients quickly, no matter where they’re being treated in the hospital.”

At Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center’s bariatric department, a robot is changing the face of patient care. Dubbed "Bari” by hospital staff, the robot allows doctors to perform tasks like remotely assess wounds, review charts, read patient vitals and even adjust the patient’s medication from virtually anywhere.

"With the robot, I can do remote rounds as often as three times a day,” says bariatric surgeon Alex Gandsas, MD. "It enhances my communication with patients and is very beneficial because patients know I still have a hand in their care, even if I’m not physically present.”

 

A robot allows doctors at

Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center

 to remotely check on patients

In March, Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton became the first hospital in the country to employ Trevo 2, an experimental device used to remove blood clots from patients suffering from non-hemorrhagic, or ischemic, strokes. The device, a half-inch-long mesh cylinder, is inserted through an incision in the groin. Once in place in the affected blood vessel, it captures the blockage and allows some blood flow to be immediately restored, greatly reducing patients’ recovery odds.

At the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, groundbreaking technology enabled medical experts to complete the region’s first bilateral hand transplant in September. A team of 30 members – 12 surgeons, three anesthesiologists and 15 nurses – performed the 11-and-a-half-hour procedure, which was Penn’s first venture into the emerging field of Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation.

 

Strengthening specialized services

As the world of medicine has continued to grow and change, so has the need for specialized care.

At Deborah Heart and Lung Center, the focus has been on the growing diabetes epidemic. "At our new Joslin Diabetes Center, diabetes educators, nutritionists and registered nurses work in tandem with primary care doctors to provide custom-designed diabetes management programs,” says the center’s medical director, Jenine Vecchio, MD. 

At Lourdes, a unique concept in healthcare – a hospital within a hospital – serves critically ill patients. "Typically, our patients come directly from the ICU and require an extended hospital stay,” explains Cheri Cowperthwait, RN, CEO of the Lourdes Specialty Hospital, which will expand the number of acute care beds at Lourdes from 30 to 69. "The need for services in this area is much greater than the current capacity,” Cowperthwait adds. "This expansion will fill a distinct need.”

 

Looking ahead

While healthcare reform continues to bring changes – many of them uncertain – the leaders of SJ hospitals say the trend toward preventative, patient-centered care is clear.

"By providing patients with education and awareness of their health, we can make a huge impact in the quality of their lives,” says Deborah’s Vecchio. "Helping patients help themselves can make all the difference.”

Virtua’s Miller agrees. "We’re looking at what we can do to keep patients healthy and out of the hospital. There’s going to be a major focus on improving outpatient and urgent care and cutting chronic disease – that’s where the cost is.”

The Latest for Kids

A number of medical facilities serving SJ continue to enhance services and technologies to promote the health and well-being of children and their families.

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) recently formed a partnership with BGI, the world’s largest genomics institute, to target pediatric diseases. The project will focus on the discovery of genes that are the basis of both rare and common pediatric diseases. Work is also underway on genetic and brain imaging research to enable earlier diagnoses and more effective treatments for autism and spectrum disorders.

Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children is building a new hospital that’s expected to be completed in 2014. The facility will feature private patient rooms with refrigerators, closets and a shower for patient and family use. Plus, every unit will have a serenity room, playroom, and washer and dryer.

This summer, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children opened the After-Hospital Asthma Clinic to increase post-hospital follow-up visits and decrease re-admissions and repeat visits to the emergency room for asthma.

And in keeping with the times, St. Christopher’s also launched a mobile application. The app gives users access to ER wait time, a first aid guide and "My Data,” an area to list allergies, emergency contacts, insurance information, medical history, physician contacts and medications.