Volume 2
WHAT’Snew
Number 18
December 18, 2013
Pennsylvania Hospital
First Private Patient Room U n it O p e n s at P A H Private R oom I nitiative & Constru ction
Update
After a year of major hospital renovations, departmental relocations, and new construction, the first unit of all private patient rooms officially opened December 9. The unit, located on 7 Preston, consists of 18 new rooms for orthopaedic and neurosurgery patients and is a major milestone in the execution of the Hospital’s $61 million long-range facility master plan.
Inside PAH Partners in Patient Advocacy.......................2 Team UPHS/Penn Sets New Donation Record..............2 Girl Power!.................................3 2013 Patient Safety Culture Survey Extended.......................3
The unit boasts modern and stylish features and is high-tech ready for both patients and staff alike. The unit’s beauty is more than just skin deep. Functionality and efficiency are behind every design element and each amenity — from full-sized, convertible sofa sleepers for patient family members, combination safes to secure personal belongings, and charging stations for mobile devices — to a spacious restroom layout with open shower stalls for safe and ease of access, and flat screen televisions, and computer monitors at each bed-side. “Thanks to the feedback obtained from staff, physicians, and patients through design sessions, mock-up room tours, and surveys, we were able to create a patient room that provides the best experience for all from a safety, ergonomic, and
aesthetic perspective,” said Karla McCaney, vice President of Facilities Management. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony on December 3, which marked the official opening of the unit, PAH Executive Director, R. Michael Buckley, MD, summed up the primary reason for the move toward a private room facility: “It is clear that this simply is the right thing to do for our patients.” The next unit of an additional 18 private rooms on 6 Preston will be dedicated to mothers and babies postpartum, and will open in February of 2014. Over the next several years, the goal is to continue renovations and construction for additional private rooms throughout the main Hospital and Spruce Buildings with the ultimate goal of 100 percent private Medical/ Surgical and Post-Partum rooms.
Happy Holidays!
Penn’s Way Thank You!............3
Best wishes for a healthy
What’s Happening.....................4
and safe holiday season
Help Spread Some Holiday Cheer............................4 UPHS Nursing Clinical Excellence Awards....................4
from What’s New.
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