27 Surgeons on South Central’s Active Medical Staff Welcome New State-of-the-Art Surgical Facility
South Central Regional
Medical Center is set to complete
Phase One of the construction
of its new surgical facility
in January of next year. When
the entire project is complete,
the new 32,200-square-foot
facility will be one of the finest
surgical facilities in the state of
Mississippi. The new department
will feature eight operating rooms
and one cystology room.
Doug Higginbotham, executive director at South Central, says, “The surgeons and staff at South Central were actively involved in designing the new surgical facility which will better meet patient care needs.” According to Higginbotham, South Central personnel traveled to five different surgical program sites before making a final decision on the design for their new facility.
“With our remarkable growth in surgical services, it was important for us to develop an overall design that would make our surgical services area more accessible and efficient—a design that would include some of the most technologically advanced surgical components available today,” Higginbotham says. When Phase One of the project is complete, surgeons will use five of the new fully integrated surgery rooms while their existing space is renovated to provide three more.
Clean and Efficient to the Core
When the entire surgical project is complete in August 2008, the eight state-of-the-art surgery rooms will be more spacious and will be situated around a central sterile core where surgical supplies will be kept. The surgical suites were designed and will be installed in partnership withSmith & Nephew Endoscopy, developer of the operating room technology. These custom operating suites can provide surgeons and other medical professionals with control of the operating room equipment and overall operative environment and provide patients with access to specialized medical care. Smith & Nephew CONDOR™ Control System will serve as the command center for the surgical suite. It can adjust the lights, instruments, sound, and other aspects of the operative environment to fit the procedure or surgeon preference. Digital networking capabilities of Smith & Nephew’s 660HD Information Management System will enable the medical team at South Central to capture, edit, and store patient information, including digital video and still images. It can interface with the South Central’s own computer system, providing access to patient information at the touch of a button. The audio visual capabilities will stream audio and video from the operating room to a specialist’s office, for improved efficiency and consultation.
Huge Improvements Without Huge Inconveniences
In addition to the surgery facility, space for an expanded Critical Care Unit is being added. South Central’s current Critical Care Unit is an 8,000-square-foot, 14-bed facility. Due to the growth in patient volumes, additional beds and space have been needed. “The new 19,600-square-foot, 17-bed Critical Care Unit will include spacious patient rooms, a new family waiting room, and a new family conference room,” Higginbotham says. The unit will be located directly above South Central’s new surgery facility and is planned for completion in late 2008.
The construction project has
impacted parking at the hospital,
so hospital employees have parked
off site to allow space for patients
and guests to park in the medical
center parking lot. “Patient convenience
is key,” Higginbotham says,
“and we have made a commitment
to lessen the inconvenience
that this project can cause to our
patients and guests.”
