State-of-the-Art Operating Rooms

Beverly Hospital Expands to Meet Surgical Demands 

Beverly, Mass. - With a state-of-the-art expansion, including three new operating rooms, high-definition monitors and extra room for patients coming in and out of surgery, Beverly Hospital is just adapting to the times.

"Essex County is one of the eldest counties in the nation, in terms of average age-and it's not getting any younger," hospital public relations and philanthropy director Gerald Mackillop, Jr. said. "It's just kind of institutionalized into these communities that we're serving."

An aging population meant more surgeries, and in 2008, administrators realized the hospital would need to expand to meet the new demand for everything from orthopedic to cardiovascular procedures, and floated the idea of an expansion.

"We were seeing our schedules were getting tight, and we just needed more because more and more people were needing more surgeries," Director of Perioperative Services Mary Beth Jenkins said. "We wanted to respond to that so we are ready to take on that extra volume."

The recession slowed the project down so that development couldn't begin until 2011, but four years and over $11 million later, the new facilities are open and patients are flowing in.

So far, so good, Jenkins said. The design of the new operating rooms and facilities are tailor-made to fit the needs of Beverly's nurses and surgeons, and they had the opportunity to contribute to the process all along the way.

"The staff had a lot of input, which I think is important because they know their flow," Jenkins said. "If we make something and it doesn't work for them, it's not good."

Surgeons helped design the operating rooms, and the over 100-strong nursing staff advised the hospital on how to keep patients moving in and out as safely and quickly as possible.

That staff input also meant funding; $2.7 million of the costs of the expansion came from 150 individual donors to the hospital's fundraising drive, including some doctors and nurses.

Between the new, larger operating rooms, HD monitors, LED lights, new equipment for minimally invasive surgeries, sterilization facilities, and row after row of bays with room for beds and people preparing for surgery, Jenkins said the nursing staff and doctors have little to complain about.

"Think about the analogy - you've got the analog TV versus the high def TVs now - so you can imagine what a difference that makes," she said.

The expansion was done with patients in mind, as well. Jenkins says the design of the new wing emphasized privacy and comfort for patients young and old coming into the operating rooms and recovering from surgery.

In the waiting room, a screen on the wall uses unique codes to show family members the status of each patient. Inside the doors of the operating room area, patients read magazines on recliners or on adjustable beds.

It's almost silent - something Jenkins said would not have generally been true before the redesign. "The noise level was very high," she said. "And people who are going to have surgery are anxious enough, they don't want to hear all that noise."

The new operating rooms seem brighter and are 50 percent larger than the six old ones still in use. Monitors surround the tables and intimidating tools and machines crowd the corners of the room, leaving surgeons more than enough elbow room.

Jenkins shows off whole rooms used for storing and sterilizing equipment.

It's all a part of the hospital's attempt to keep area residents from driving south when they need surgery.

"A big part of the system is keeping care local," Mackillop said.

In other words, they're trying to keep patients from fleeing to bigger hospitals in Boston.

"Having the three new operating rooms and that level of technology allows us to keep people here as opposed to having them go into Boston," Mackillop said.

The hospital recognizes that its future hinges, at least partially, on the new facilities' ability to keep patients on the North Shore.

For now, they're confident it will at least improve the care it can provide, Mackillop said.

"At the end of the day, the technology is a game changer for the patients and our docs," he said.

Source: By Martha Shanahan / mshanahan@wickedlocal.com Beverly Citizen