SoutheastHEALTH opens new hybrid operating suite, patient pavilion

SoutheastHEALTH has announced the opening of two new areas designed to give surgical patients access to the latest technologies and to give heart patients a new-patient centered inpatient area.

A new hybrid operating suite at Southeast Hospital is designed to handle the most critical heart and vascular cases. Its multispecialty use includes cardiac, interventional radiology, orthopedic and neurosurgical operations. According to information provided by the hospital, the suite can accommodate traditional open-heart procedures as well as advanced, minimally invasive endovascular procedures.

The suite provides a sterile space in which cardiologists and cardiac surgeons can work side by side to treat blood vessel and heart valve problems using minimally invasive techniques. These procedures range from endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, treatment of blockage in the blood vessels supplying the kidneys, spleen, lower extremities and other organs to malfunctioning aortic and mitral valves in the heart.

"With the past year, we've seen a 25% increase in the number of minimally invasive endovascular procedures being performed at SoutheastHEALTH," said Jan Rigdon, executive director of the cardiovascular service line and perioperative services at Southeast. "This is reflective of a paradigm shift in the treatment of certain heart and vascular procedures. While many procedures require an 'open' surgical approach to heart and vascular disease, less invasive procedures are an option for some patients."

She added "minimally invasive procedures do not require a large surgical incision and result in a faster recovery for patients, less pain and a shorter hospital stay."

From left, Southeast- HEALTH employees Eric Grabel, Dr. Chris Crocker and Jessica Suhre follow Heart and Vascular Pavilion nurse manager Jennifer Kiplinger into one of the Pavilion's new rooms during an open house last week.Jay Wolz

SoutheastHEALTH was one of the first health care providers in the region to offer transcatheter aortic valve replacement, a minimally invasive approach to replacement of a narrowed aortic valve. Next on the horizon for Southeast is the transcatheter mitral valve repair. Both are hybrid procedures involving cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons working side by side. The high-technology operating room provides a state-of-the-art, large sterile space in which to perform these and other procedures.

"The new enhancements to the larger hybrid operating suite enable us to perform these advanced procedures better and more accurately," said Janice Quade, SoutheastHEALTH's director of perioperative services. Quade, along with surgery nurse manager Kate Reeves, peri-anesthesia nurse manager Nancy Voelker and Rigdon, were part of a team of physicians, nurses, hospital officials and facility managers who helped design the new hybrid suite.

Key features of the suite include:

SoutheastHEALTH respiratory therapy director Billy Thatcher, left, and patient care services director Lance West discuss new bedside monitors during an open house last week in the hospital's Heart and Vascular Pavilion.Jay Wolz

• Real-time 3D visualization of blood vessels using a high-resolution imaging system and flat screen monitors;
• An "integration" system allowing live and stored images and patient vital signs to be displayed on multiple monitors throughout the suite;
• An operating room table that can tilt and rotate patients for optimal positioning and imaging during procedures.

In another area of the hospital, a new, patient-centered Heart and Vascular Pavilion will begin admitting patients this week. An open house for the fifth-floor, 14-bed unit took place last week.

The Pavilion is a "step down" unit for the hospital's Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit where heart surgery patients begin their post-surgery recovery.

Pavilion nurse manager Jennifer Kiplinger said the unit "is built on the concept of decentralized nursing care. There is no central nurses' station. The nurses are positioned just outside patients' rooms at desks along the hallway. Each desk has windows into the patient room to assure our patients receive close observation by the nursing staff."

She said the unit's design lends itself to better continuity of care as patients transition from critical care.

"We have also taken steps that help ensure patient safety," Kiplinger said. These include patient recliners that can easily be operated with one hand and improved over-the-bed tables with extra storage. Four of the 14 rooms feature ceiling lifts that can move patients from their beds to their bathrooms if the need arises.