HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Regional Medical Center (HRMC) announced Saturday that it will build a new state-of-the-art 18-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) addition to the hospital. In addition, the 41-year-old facility will receive an electrical upgrade as part of a $23 million project that will be paid for with a Hutchinson Regional Medical Foundation donation and hospital revenue bonds.
Ken Johnson, the president and CEO of Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System (HRHS), says the new ICU will help meet the changing healthcare needs of the community. “Patients coming into the hospital today are often sicker than in the past. Our ICU structure has not been updated since HRMC opened in 1975. The new ICU will accommodate new equipment and technology, improving care for our patients.”
The existing ICU at the hospital consists of rooms too small to accommodate the equipment, cables and suction necessary for modern intensive care. During recent construction of the new Emergency Department, the ICU was moved to the 4th floor of HRMC, which highlighted the need for a facility upgrade. A recent article in critical Care magazine said the average ICU in American healthcare facilities has not changed substantially since the 1950s.
Wes Hoyt, the Chief Operating Officer of HRHS, says the hospital has an exciting opportunity to create the premiere ICU in the region: “The technology around care has changed, and we are pleased that Hutchinson Regional Medical Center can update our facility so we will be in good shape to provide critical care for the next 20 to 30 years.” The electrical system upgrade will improve the management and distribution of the emergency power systems to increase reliability.
To make sure the new ICU would meet the needs of patients and their families, as well as doctors and medical staff, members of the HRMC ICU team were actively involved in the design. JoAnn Rivera, RN, Director of Patient Care Services for ICU, has been with HRMC for 26 years and says the new design will make a huge difference in patient care. “The new unit will be round, which will allow nurses to see patients from anywhere within the unit, and will utilize centralized ‘booms’ over the patient beds for cables and suction. When we toured other ICU’s to see what worked best, those were improvements that we saw will make a big difference.”
The design will decentralize the ICU nursing station, placing two nursing work stations between every two rooms. Each room will be plumbed for dialysis and will have adequate space for family members to stay with the patient. Research shows having family present improves patient recovery. The interdisciplinary group that collaborated on the design included: Vice President of Patient Care Services, Julie Ward, MSN; Jon Miller, RN, ICU staff nurse; Beth Schwabauer, RN, ICU Charge Nurse; Courtney Eales, RN, ICU Charge Nurse; Mark Wilson, Director of Materials Management; Mickey Bowen, Supervisor of Information Services, and Patrick Mowder, PHARM D, Director of Pharmacy
The bulk of the funding for the project will come from hospital revenue bonds, which involve no city financial responsibility and no taxes. The hospital will generate the revenue used to pay back bondholders. No rate has yet been assigned for the bonds, though current low bond rates make this the optimal way to finance.
The $4 million donation from Hutchinson Regional Medical Foundation will get the project started. Jim Gilliland is the chairman of the Foundation Board: “This project is one the Foundation is very excited to help fund. The people of Hutchinson and Reno County deserve the best in care, and the new ICU will provide top-quality care in our hometown.”
Dr. Timothy Crater is an Internist with the Hutchinson Clinic who has admitted patients to the HRMC ICU for years. “The new ICU will provide doctors and ICU staff the surroundings and equipment necessary to offer the most attentive care possible. The fact that the ICU staff was intimately involved in the design of the project ensures it will offer the upgrades and improvements needed to bring Intensive Care delivery up to the next level.”
Kim Moore is the vice-chair of the Hutchinson Regional Medical Center board. “This project is the next necessary step in keeping the HRMC facility updated to continue to provide for the healthcare needs of the community,” Moore explained. “Doing the ICU and the electrical upgrade concurrently also provides some economies of scale in already having equipment and workers onsite. The Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System is a community asset, and this project greatly enhances the quality of that asset.”
The General Contractor for the project is Nabholz, and the architect is Health Facilities Group (HPG). Professional Engineering Consultants, P.A. are the engineers for the electrical upgrade. The project will take about 2 years to complete.