MONROE - Just months after opening its new hospital facility, Monroe Clinic is adding eight beds to meet an increase demand, officials announced Thursday, Oct. 4. After construction is completed, the hospital will have 58 private patient rooms.
"We are often seeing patient levels reach their peak each week," said Paula Elmer, RN, MSN, Monroe Clinic's Vice President Clinical Operations and Chief Nursing Officer. "While our hospital staff has worked to accommodate our patients and ensure they are getting the care they need, we recognize the need to add more rooms to provide efficient delivery of care."
Since opening the new hospital in March, Monroe Clinic has had an 8-percent increase in patient days, according to a news release.
"The fact that more patients are choosing Monroe Clinic reaffirms our commitment to building and opening a new hospital," Elmer said.
The cost to construct and equip the new rooms is approximately $1 million, to be paid through funds remaining in the hospital construction budget and the routine capital budget. Previous partners, Kahler Slater and C.G. Schmidt, will also oversee the inpatient expansion project.
Monroe Clinic planned for future growth by including 19,000 feet of "shelled space" as it designed the new hospital. Approximately 2,000 of that square footage was slated for potential growth in the inpatient unit. This space will become the eight additional rooms.
The location of the rooms will allow for a seamless integration to the inpatient floor, "which was a consideration from day one," said Steve Borowski, Monroe Clinic's Director of Facility Services. "We will use the same design as the existing rooms. They will be identical, with views of nature, same-handed layout and other environmentally friendly, patient-safety features."
Borowski said construction should have very little or no impact on patients staying at the hospital. A temporary wall will separate the project from current patient care space. The HVAC and electrical work is already in place, so much of the work will have minimal disruption to ongoing patient care.
Construction is slated to run from December to February.
While the inpatient expansion project is in its beginning stages, Elmer said Monroe Clinic is already actively recruiting and scheduling staff to meet current inpatient
levels.
"We are often seeing patient levels reach their peak each week," said Paula Elmer, RN, MSN, Monroe Clinic's Vice President Clinical Operations and Chief Nursing Officer. "While our hospital staff has worked to accommodate our patients and ensure they are getting the care they need, we recognize the need to add more rooms to provide efficient delivery of care."
Since opening the new hospital in March, Monroe Clinic has had an 8-percent increase in patient days, according to a news release.
"The fact that more patients are choosing Monroe Clinic reaffirms our commitment to building and opening a new hospital," Elmer said.
The cost to construct and equip the new rooms is approximately $1 million, to be paid through funds remaining in the hospital construction budget and the routine capital budget. Previous partners, Kahler Slater and C.G. Schmidt, will also oversee the inpatient expansion project.
Monroe Clinic planned for future growth by including 19,000 feet of "shelled space" as it designed the new hospital. Approximately 2,000 of that square footage was slated for potential growth in the inpatient unit. This space will become the eight additional rooms.
The location of the rooms will allow for a seamless integration to the inpatient floor, "which was a consideration from day one," said Steve Borowski, Monroe Clinic's Director of Facility Services. "We will use the same design as the existing rooms. They will be identical, with views of nature, same-handed layout and other environmentally friendly, patient-safety features."
Borowski said construction should have very little or no impact on patients staying at the hospital. A temporary wall will separate the project from current patient care space. The HVAC and electrical work is already in place, so much of the work will have minimal disruption to ongoing patient care.
Construction is slated to run from December to February.
While the inpatient expansion project is in its beginning stages, Elmer said Monroe Clinic is already actively recruiting and scheduling staff to meet current inpatient
levels.