Saint Anne’s Hospital completes first phase of new Emergency Department and Surgical Center

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Saint Anne’s $19.6 million projects feature state-of-the-art emergency and surgical facilities and technology

Fall River, Mass. – Saint Anne’s Hospital offered “sneak peeks” today at the first phase of its $19.6 million emergency department and surgical center project, giving hospital staff, EMS providers and invited guests a look at new emergency treatment areas and operating rooms, and introducing 21st century technologies that will enhance patient care.

Ground was broken last April for the 39,000-square-foot emergency-surgical facility. When fully completed later this year, the expansion will double the hospital’s capacity to care for emergency patients and their families, and add new operating rooms, post-anesthesia care units and related renovations to help meet the community’s surgical needs.

In 2010, visits to Saint Anne’s main emergency room and express care area numbered more than 40,000 adults and children – about twice the number of patients when the emergency department was last renovated in the 1980s. An additional 5,000 square feet will result in a 13,000-square-foot emergency care area that, when completed this fall, will house 27 treatment bays, two trauma/cardiac treatment areas, a dedicated pediatric care area, and specialized treatment areas for patients requiring gynecological or isolation care.

James Worthington, MD, Kevin Mabie, MD, and Brad Green, MD, of Coastal Orthopaedics in Fall River, discuss new robotic arm-assisted technology for knee procedures in one of Saint Anne's three new operating rooms.

Other features include a centrally located nurses’ station that provides continuous visibility of patients, and an expanded ambulance area. In total, the new emergency department will be more spacious, provide greater capacity, and enhance patient privacy and accommodations for families.

Likewise, the 16,500-square-foot surgical center was designed to accommodate the growing number of surgical patients and procedures utilizing advanced technology and equipment. The center’s five operating rooms will include three all-new, state-of-the-art, 700-square-foot operating rooms and two renovated operating rooms, a dedicated urology suite, eight new adult post-anesthesia care or recovery areas, a private pediatric recovery room, and an isolation room.

The surgical center also will feature a spacious reception and waiting area for families, new nurses’ station, case cart system, sub-sterile area, surgeon dictation workstations, and staff lounge and locker facilities.

New technology

In conjunction with its facility expansions, Saint Anne’s patients now have the benefit of new technologies that help clinicians care for patients in critical emergencies and train or obtain needed recertification of essential skills.

Arctic Sun^®: Patients who experience cardiac arrest or disrupted heart rhythm (such as ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia) now have access to Arctic Sun_®, a body temperature management system that has been shown to improve survival for these cardiac events. Arctic Sun’s external cooling pads and sophisticated technology systematically reduce the body’s temperature, a process known as therapeutic hypothermia. The lower body temperature slows the brain’s demand for oxygen and prevents damage to brain cells, thereby helping to stop brain damage. Endoperating roomsed as a Level 1 approach by the American Heart Association, Arctic Sun has been proven to improve outcomes for patients with critical cardiac conditions.

Andrew Old,MD, associate chief of emergency medicine, and members of the emergency department team demonstrate "SimMan®."  SimMan® and Arctic Sun® technology were made possible through a gift last year by the Helen D. and Joseph C. Saulino Endowment and its benefactoperating rooms.

SimMan 3G^®:To help staff review or achieve advanced competence in treating patients with a wide variety of illnesses and injuries, the hospital has also acquired SimMan 3G^®, which is a portable, adult-size mannequin that simulates a wide variety of illnesses and injuries. It is valuable for staff who must be regularly tested for their clinical and decision-making skills and new students who can learn and assess such basics as vital signs, heart sounds, breathing and lung function. It also teaches or tests more complex tasks, such as performing CPR, inserting IVs, administering the right dosage of medications, and assessing and treating bleeding and wounds, asthma attacks or convulsions. Its lifelike qualities include a range of breathing, speech, lung sounds, bowel sounds, heart sounds, secretions, and eye movements, all under a variety of conditions that clinicians may encounter in emergency situations and all while posing no risk to patients.

Arctic Sun^® and SimMan^® were made possible through a $100,000 donation in 2010 by the Helen D. and Joseph C. Saulino Endowment and its benefactoperating rooms.

Two new facilities in three phases

Saint Anne’s overall emergency department and surgical center project is being completed in three phases:

Phase 1 completion: March 2011
Emergency Department: During this phase, the hospital’s emergency department will open ten new emergency treatment rooms, a new covered ambulance entrance (below), an all-new nurses’ station, a new elevator with access to all floors and new department offices.

Surgical Center: Also, during the first phase, the hospital’s surgical center will open three all-new, 700-square-foot operating rooms. These operating rooms are designed to accommodate complex surgeries or those that require sophisticated technology. Also, there will be an all-new reception and waiting area for families and friends, and staff facilities such as dictation workstation, lounge and locker rooms, and nurses’ station.

Phase 2 completion: Summer 2011
Emergency Department: This phase will include final renovations of the main emergency department, for a total of 27 treatment rooms.

Surgical Center: Completion of all surgical suites, including two operating rooms and a dedicated urology suite.

Phase 3 completion: Fall 2011
Emergency Department: Completion of renovations to the emergency department’s express care area and waiting area for patients, families and friends is scheduled for this fall.

Surgical Center: Completion of new eight-bed post-surgical recovery unit and private pediatric recovery area.

Saint Anne’s emergency department and surgical center project are among seven infrastructure improvement projects currently underway at Steward Health Care's hospitals. Together, they total more than 117,000 square feet and represent a capital investment of more than $100 million.

Steward Health Care System's infrastructure projects have created new jobs in areas served by the hospitals including Fall River, Brockton, Dorchester, Norwood, Boston and Methuen. These include 110 design, engineering and consulting jobs, 500 construction jobs, 500 new jobs from hospital projects, and more than 3,700 related stimulus jobs.

Construction partners for the projects include: R.F. Walsh Collaborative Partners, project manager, of Boston; Suffolk Construction, general contractor, of Boston; Thompson Consultants, Inc., mechanical, electrical and plumbing/fire protection engineering consulting, of Marion, Mass.; and Woodard & Curran.

What you should know as construction continues at Saint Anne’s Hospital

• During construction, Saint Anne’s emergency department and operating rooms are fully operational. Emergency services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Access to most hospital services, including the emergency department, continues to be through the hospital’s main entrance on South Main Street. This entrance is open and staffed 24 hours a day.
• Except for ambulances, access to the emergency department entrance on Middle Street is closed to all vehicular and foot traffic.
• Due to limited on-site and on-street parking, patients and visitoperating rooms are strongly encouraged to use our free on-site valet parking. This service is available Monday through Friday at the following entrances:
                 -Main entrance, South Main Street
                 -Hudner Oncology Center, Osborn Street

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Saint Anne’s Hospital is a community hospital with comprehensive inpatient, outpatient, and emergency care services, serving adults and children in southeastern Massachusetts and nearby Rhode Island. Founded in 1906 by the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation, Saint Anne's Hospital is a member of Steward Health Care, the second largest health care system in New England. Saint Anne’s specialized centers and services include: Saint Anne’s Hospital Regional Cancer Care; the Robert F. Stoico/ FIRSTFED Center for Breast Care; Steward Diabetes Care Program; the Center for Pain Management; geriatric psychiatry; pediatrics (including inpatient care and specialty outpatient medical, behavioral and developmental care through the Fernandes Center for Children & Families); adult and pediatric rehabilitation; cardiovascular care; and primary care.

Saint Anne’s Hospital Regional Cancer Care (www.SaintAnnesHospital.org/oncology): 

• The Hudner Oncology Center is affiliated with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
• Saint Anne’s Hospital Radiation Oncology is affiliated with Brigham and Women's Radiation Oncology

Steward Health Care (www.steward.org) is the largest fully integrated community care organization in New England. Headquartered in Boston, Steward has more than 13,000 employees serving more than one million patients annually in 85 communities. In addition to Saint Anne’s, hospitals in the system include Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton, Norwood Hospital, Carney Hospital in Dorchester, and Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton. Other Steward Health Care entities include Steward Physician Network, Steward Home Care, Labouré College and Por Cristo.

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