Cleveland Clinic in Wooster opens new ambulatory surgery wing
The paint will barely be dry on the new ambulatory surgery wing of the Cleveland Clinic Family Health Center in Wooster when it opens for business, April 19. The $9.4 million addition has been under construction since February 2010, and workers are still putting on the final touches.
Ambulatory surgery is also known as outpatient, or same-day surgery, where patients are admitted and discharged the same day. “The whole idea of ambulatory surgery is a small but significant departure from the typical inpatient setting,” said Medical Director Anthony Tizzano, M.D. “We’re fine tuning an option to give a better level of care at a lower cost.”
“The Cleveland Clinic focuses on best practices and innovation,” he said. “A large portion of the clinic’s leadership is physicians. We live with the decisions we make, and patient care is always first and foremost in our minds.”
Along with those best practices, building designers carefully considered ways to make the facility more energy and cost-efficient. The clinic is pursuing LEED sustainable building certification. “With virtually everything we do, we ask, is this a ‘green’ way to do this?” said Tizzano.
Cleveland Clinic in Wooster now boasts three operating rooms with state-of-the-art equipment and anticipates doing 3,200 surgeries per year. Fifty-two physicians and 241 support staff work out of the clinic.
Among the procedures performed in the ambulatory surgery wing will be general surgery, colorectal surgery, gastrointestinal imaging, gynecological surgery, orthopaedic surgery, podiatry, urology, vascular surgery and pain management.
Computerization plays an important role in the new system. When information about a patient is entered into the computer, all their records are updated at once. In addition, the entire Cleveland Clinic system is networked, so the records are instantly accessible to any medical provider in the network.
In the clinic’s 11 pre- and post-op bays, staff will prep patients for surgery and monitor them afterward. One of the bays doubles as a block room, where anesthesia can be administered before surgery. Another, called the “23-hour room,” is designed for slightly longer stays and offers all the usual amenities of a private hospital room. An electronic tracking system monitors each patient’s progress, and allows family members to follow along on a screen in the waiting room. The unit is locked down for security, and staff must swipe their badges to open the doors.
Behind the scenes, a Pyxis MedStation provides automated medication dosages based on the patient’s records. “It reduces drug errors - you can’t accidentally give a drug the patient is allergic to or prepare it incorrectly - the drugs are already premixed,” said anesthesiologist Roger Cooby.
The Cleveland Clinic puts a high emphasis on safety and cleanliness, and that concern is reflected in an elaborate system for sterilizing and tracking surgical instruments. One room is devoted to cleaning used instruments, which are all barcoded for easy electronic tracking. “We know at any time where all our instruments are,” said nurse manager Wendy Simmons. Once cleaned, the instruments pass through a window to an adjoining room, where they are sterilized and again prepared for surgery.
“The system provides complete separation of dirty and clean instruments,” said Tizzano. “Additionally, some instruments have a limited life, or they need to be recalibrated every so often. Being able to track them electronically lets us know that it’s time for them to be recalibrated. Automation may seem like a luxury, but more and more, it’s a necessity to monitor these things. There’s no circumnavigating the system - its checks and balances help us implement a uniform approach to surgery.”
Tizzano is scheduled to perform the first surgery in one of the new operating rooms on April 19. But before the facility officially opens, the public is invited to an open house on Tuesday, April 12, from 5-7 p.m. The Cleveland Clinic Family Center in Wooster is located at 721 E. Milltown Rd. For more information, call 330-287-4500.
Ambulatory surgery is also known as outpatient, or same-day surgery, where patients are admitted and discharged the same day. “The whole idea of ambulatory surgery is a small but significant departure from the typical inpatient setting,” said Medical Director Anthony Tizzano, M.D. “We’re fine tuning an option to give a better level of care at a lower cost.”
“The Cleveland Clinic focuses on best practices and innovation,” he said. “A large portion of the clinic’s leadership is physicians. We live with the decisions we make, and patient care is always first and foremost in our minds.”
Along with those best practices, building designers carefully considered ways to make the facility more energy and cost-efficient. The clinic is pursuing LEED sustainable building certification. “With virtually everything we do, we ask, is this a ‘green’ way to do this?” said Tizzano.
Cleveland Clinic in Wooster now boasts three operating rooms with state-of-the-art equipment and anticipates doing 3,200 surgeries per year. Fifty-two physicians and 241 support staff work out of the clinic.
Among the procedures performed in the ambulatory surgery wing will be general surgery, colorectal surgery, gastrointestinal imaging, gynecological surgery, orthopaedic surgery, podiatry, urology, vascular surgery and pain management.
Computerization plays an important role in the new system. When information about a patient is entered into the computer, all their records are updated at once. In addition, the entire Cleveland Clinic system is networked, so the records are instantly accessible to any medical provider in the network.
In the clinic’s 11 pre- and post-op bays, staff will prep patients for surgery and monitor them afterward. One of the bays doubles as a block room, where anesthesia can be administered before surgery. Another, called the “23-hour room,” is designed for slightly longer stays and offers all the usual amenities of a private hospital room. An electronic tracking system monitors each patient’s progress, and allows family members to follow along on a screen in the waiting room. The unit is locked down for security, and staff must swipe their badges to open the doors.
Behind the scenes, a Pyxis MedStation provides automated medication dosages based on the patient’s records. “It reduces drug errors - you can’t accidentally give a drug the patient is allergic to or prepare it incorrectly - the drugs are already premixed,” said anesthesiologist Roger Cooby.
The Cleveland Clinic puts a high emphasis on safety and cleanliness, and that concern is reflected in an elaborate system for sterilizing and tracking surgical instruments. One room is devoted to cleaning used instruments, which are all barcoded for easy electronic tracking. “We know at any time where all our instruments are,” said nurse manager Wendy Simmons. Once cleaned, the instruments pass through a window to an adjoining room, where they are sterilized and again prepared for surgery.
“The system provides complete separation of dirty and clean instruments,” said Tizzano. “Additionally, some instruments have a limited life, or they need to be recalibrated every so often. Being able to track them electronically lets us know that it’s time for them to be recalibrated. Automation may seem like a luxury, but more and more, it’s a necessity to monitor these things. There’s no circumnavigating the system - its checks and balances help us implement a uniform approach to surgery.”
Tizzano is scheduled to perform the first surgery in one of the new operating rooms on April 19. But before the facility officially opens, the public is invited to an open house on Tuesday, April 12, from 5-7 p.m. The Cleveland Clinic Family Center in Wooster is located at 721 E. Milltown Rd. For more information, call 330-287-4500.
Published: April 13, 2011
