High-tech, High Touch: Inside Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center by Page E. Bishop. Published: July 2006 Welcome to Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center. As you enter the main lobby, you’re greeted by the sound of water cascading from a fountain. You look up – you’re in the middle of a great rotunda. The keys of a grand piano play a familiar melody. Ahead, you catch a glimpse of two glass staircases leading to the second floor. To the left is a small chapel; straight ahead you’ll find a food court with optional outdoor seating. The Emergency Department is bustling at the rear of the ground level. To your right you’ll see the Volunteer Services office and a Health Resource Center where patients and concerned family members can gather information. As you ascend the stairs to the second floor, rooftop gardens come into view. The Family Maternity Center is to your left. You lean over the glass to see the newborn babies. Your son, age five, wants to see, too. Luckily, there is a small step so he can get a better look. From there you head to one of the private patient rooms. You’re surprised by features such as a private bathroom with ceramic tile, a sleeper sofa for overnight guests, a separate sink station for the attending nurse, and an upgraded electrical tower that supplies the patient’s bed with oxygen. There’s even a wall niche to hold the vase of flowers and card that you purchased from the gift shop downstairs. A flat-screen television is positioned on the wall. You notice the paint colors– maybe they’d look nice in your house. A nurse enters and she smiles. She seems genuinely happy. After all, she helped design these rooms. After nearly two years of preparation, Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center will open its doors and begin admitting patients on August 17. The $96 million facility is a marvel of insight and innovation – a state-of-the-art hospital that is as comfortable as it is cutting-edge. Earlier this month, builders released the 340,000-square-foot SWRMC to local hospital officials – leaving them six weeks to prepare for incoming patients. Heading West SWRMC’s Co-project Manager Don West is ready for action. West, the former director of engineering for Paramount’s King’s Dominion says there are some parallels between building a roller coaster and building a hospital – the stress and the pressing deadlines, for example. But West is about to experience a new kind of thrill: Beginning this month, he will oversee the equipment transfer to the new hospital. West says questions ranging from “How will we provide food for patients when they arrive?” to “Who will relocate the blue “H” signs along the highway?” must be addressed before opening hospital doors. To assist in a smooth transition, volunteers from the College of William and Mary’s School of Nursing, as well as community volunteers, will be on-site the day of the move. Allied Hospital Services, which moves 90 percent of all U.S. hospitals, will deliver equipment while a fleet of 20 ambulances from Williamsburg, James City County, York County and Newport News will deliver the hospital’s most precious cargo – its patients. Staff and volunteers will work “behind the scenes” to make sure each patient room is ready and waiting. As transferred patients arrive at the new hospital, so must their charts and necessary medical equipment. “[This move] will be a huge orchestration,” says Hospital Administrator Bob Graves, who expects to open doors at 5:00 a.m. Aug. 17. “So our goal is to move as quickly and as safely as possible. Moving patients is the most difficult task, so we are focused and committed to providing a safe move from Monticello Avenue to Lightfoot. Even though it’s a short distance, we still need to be safe.” A Safe Shelter Recent disasters such as September 11, Hurricane Katrina, and, in our region, Hurricane Isabel, made many engineers reconsider the importance of disaster preparedness. SWRMC is designed to withstand potential flooding and hurricanes, power and water outages, chemical and biological attacks, and most other crisis situations that could occur. “Isabel was only a category one hurricane,” says Don West. “This hospital is designed to withstand a category three or higher.” Because a steady supply of power is critical for patients who rely on life-saving machines, SWRMC has access to two local power sources (York County and James City County) and three back-up electric generators (which, combined, could support the entire hospital for three days). In addition SWRMC has two 12,000-gallon external fuel tanks, two local water sources and enough bottled water on hand to last several days. Other safety features include back-up communication systems, the capacity to turn the Emergency Department into two decontamination units (which, together, could house hundreds of people), advanced air filtration to prevent the spread of airborne illnesses, and the capability of running a negative-pressure quarantine unit in case of a biological or chemical attack. “All in all,” explains West, “this building can take a lot of abuse. It’s designed for a 21st century threat.” In crisis situations, many public hospitals reach a point where they are simply unable to provide care for citizens. To avoid these circumstances, West believes all hospitals should have a disaster plan in place as well as backup protocol. “Disaster planning is important for public safety,” he says. “You can build a hospital and not spend the money that we did, but our goal was to build a very safe, state-of-the-art facility. When people ask us, ‘What are you doing to protect the public?’, we have answers.” “Whiz-Bang!” “A hospital ready for advancements that haven’t been made yet” – perhaps you’ve heard this maxim describing SWRMC, but you’re wondering what it means. Technology is developing at a very fast rate; and just as computer software developed five years ago is now becoming obsolete, it’s impossible to predict what advancements are on the high-tech horizon. Sentara plans to stay ahead of the curve by preparing for upcoming technologies. For example, at SWRMC, the distance between each floor is wider than average, leaving a “shell” of empty space for cables, wires and equipment that, in the future, may be hospital standards. A vacant fifth floor tops off the building and currently houses computer servers and other equipment used primarily by the information technology (IT) department. In anticipation of future expansion, the main elevators and stairwells currently go all the way up to a non-existent sixth floor, which could provide 48 new beds “overnight,” says Graves. Critical care departments such as Radiology, Emergency Services and Intensive Care (which are largely computer-based, and therefore, expected to grow at a faster rate than other medical services) are built on the outer walls of the structure. That will enable these departments to expand in the most economical way without interrupting other services. Says IT Director Thomas Ewing, “We have the infrastructure in place and the ability to expand and evolve.” Although technology is developing quickly, Ewing says the focus right now is to first get the physicians and staff into the building and allow them to adjust to a new environment before introducing a lot of new equipment. Sentara won’t “bombard” physicians with high-tech gadgets and gizmos, which could result in “information overload.” A number of new features, however, will enhance communication between departments: among them, a pneumonic tube system. Such systems, used by many banks, allow funds and documents to be passed quickly from a bank teller inside to a customer waiting in the drive-thru line outside. The hospital’s pneumonic tube system works in a similar way. Each department will have its own tube station, and workers will be able to send information or supplies to almost any other department on any of the hospital’s floors. “The pneumonic system isn’t exactly whiz-bang,” says Ewing. “Banks and other institutions have used this system for years. But it’s an effective method and a hard system to beat.” Other replacement technologies include larger operating rooms with voice-activated equipment, two cardiac catheterization labs for heart procedures, and advanced security in the Emergency Department. Ewing, whose department has already been transferred to the new facility, will help to make sure all computer systems are properly installed, and that the hospital’s network (Intranet) is up and running. Employees will have access to a wireless Internet lounge, a feature not previously available. Sentara will also introduce a new “call-bell” system for nurses, which will require them to wear infrared tags. A dispatcher can detect their movement between patient rooms, making it easier to request a room visit or assign other duties. IT workers will also test the high-speed phone lines and switches to make sure each room number is programmed to receive incoming calls. Adds Ewing: “The move to Sentara Careplex in Hampton taught us that transition could be overwhelming. So [this time] we made it a policy to not overload our staff with a lot of new technology all at once. We want everyone to first get comfortable in this new environment.” Interior Motives Hospitals weren’t always designed for optimum efficiency. For example, nurse stations (areas in the hallway where nurses handle paperwork, accept calls, respond to a dispatcher, etc.) were once built to serve an entire unit of patients. At SWRMC, however, the interior was designed with its employees’ needs in mind. Third-floor nurse stations are arranged in the shape of a triangle, with eight patient rooms to either side of each “point,” so no matter what room a nurse visits, he or she is still centrally located near a workstation. “This triangular setup will allow us to work more efficiently and effectively,” says Registered Nurse Kathy McCovey, who came to WCH 16 years ago. “My time between stations will definitely decrease.” She adds that each room emphasizes family involvement. “It doesn’t seem like a hospital at all. Our patients and visitors will be very pleased.” Surgeon Terryl Times of Williamsburg Surgery, P.C. has worked closely with the hospital for 15 years. Times thinks the all-private rooms make the hospital friendly toward visitors. “[The new hospital] is all about the patients,” he says, “and we want them to feel good about where they are and make it easy for them to get around.” A Quiet Corner Though most agree that the new patient rooms are exceptional features, Chaplain Milt Hines is proud to unveil yet another of SWRMC’s crowning glories: a chapel where patients, visitors and staff can find sanctuary from the hospital’s busy corridors. “We’re proud to address our patients’ physical, emotional and spiritual needs,” says Hines, who has served his chaplaincy with the hospital for 12 years. “Spirituality is an important part of the healing process. Adding a chapel to our list of services will give people a quiet, sacred place to commune with their god – or to simply meditate.” The centerpiece of the chapel is a five-by-ten-foot stained glass window designed by artist Michael Huffman, owner of The Glass Gallery in Newport News. The window, which depicts a sycamore tree (also known as the “tree of life”), was donated by the hospital auxiliary. Well-known for his attention to detail, Huffman says he used approximately eight pieces of stained glass for each individual leaf. A Model Hospital Public Relations Spokesperson Kim VanSickle says recent surveys have shed light on what drives a patient’s decision-making when it comes to choosing one’s healthcare. Hospital officials concluded that a patient’s first considerations are a hospital or clinic’s level of technology and the reputation of its physicians. Equally important to patients, VanSickle says, are the “little things” like whether their room was clean and their nurse was friendly. “We’ve built this hospital from the ground up,” she says, “and we’ve designed it for the latest advancements and technologies. But what’s really going to make an impact is the warm and welcoming feeling that you get when you walk through those doors. It’s a nice combination. It’s the best of both worlds.” Graves believes SWRMC will likely set a high standard first for how to design a hospital, and then, how to actually move patients into the building. “There is no doubt in my mind that we will be a showcase hospital,” he says. “Our team has done a superb job of planning. We’ll have officials from other hospitals observing us the day of the move. Others will visit our ICU and our patient rooms just to see how they are laid out. The hospital will attract people and physicians. We’ll even have landscapers taking notes from our gardens.” Moving On On Aug. 17, Sentara Williamsburg Community Hospital will officially become Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center. Phone numbers will change, as will room numbers, offices, departments, directions, ambulance routes, and just about every facet of the hospital’s daily routine. Yet, in the midst of this great conversion, one message is clear – The building might be changing, but the people will remain the same. Co-project manager Tracey Dowling believes moving from the Monticello hospital will be like saying goodbye to a long-familiar home. “There are memories between these walls,” she says thoughtfully, as she looks at her calendar. Fifty-one days to go. Milt Hines shares Dowling’s view of the hospital as a home. He says a friend once asked him, “Milt, when the hospital moves, will you be going, too?” He replied, “If you moved into a new house, would you take your family with you?” He says the building isn’t what holds the hospital’s 45 years worth of memories. The people do. “When I think of fond memories, I think of people and families,” he says, “and those people will still be with us.”

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