Posted on September 8, 2004 at 8:00 a.m.
High-resolution images of the new hospital and the complete press kit are available on the UAB Media Relations Web site at www.uab.edu/news.
BIRMINGHAM, AL — Nearly a decade of planning and construction culminate September 20 when patients move into the new University Hospital at UAB. Construction began on the 885,000-square-foot facility in July 2000. Among the features of the $275 million building are 37 state-of-the-art operating rooms and an emergency room the size of a football field.
“The University Hospital north pavilion represents a new era in health care for Alabama residents,” said UAB President Carol Z. Garrison. “This facility, with its highly advanced technology, places UAB alongside the finest hospitals in the nation.”
“We have worked diligently during the last 10 years to determine how best to provide patient care that is of the highest quality, while at the same time taking into account the environment of the facility for patients, visitors and the people providing patient care,” said David Hoidal, chief executive officer of UAB Health System. “In the new University Hospital, we believe we have not only created a facility to handle the technology of the future, but also a health care setting for the future.”
The facility is intended to create a comfortable environment for patients and their families. All 96 patient rooms are private and feature custom-built furniture, a sofa bed for visitors and windows. The facility also will include 94 private intensive care beds. A wireless call system allows patients direct access to nursing staff; and all rooms are equipped with bedside computers that allow clinicians quick and easy access to patient data. A healing garden on the fifth floor allows visitors a quiet place to rest, surrounded by plants and flowers.
“In the planning process for our new hospital, we solicited feedback from our patients and visitors,” said Mary Nash, executive director of University Hospital. “In response to their suggestions, we have tripled our visitor seating to 900 and have added 1,200 new parking spaces. Our dining area seats 500 people and will feature a wide variety of menu options. And, we have a covered, secure motor-court that will allow family members to drop off patients directly outside the emergency department.”
Although the accommodations for visitor comfort are the most visible to the naked eye, the new facility is steeped with new technology designed to greatly enhance patient care. Pyxis, an automated drug dispensing system, is expected to provide greater efficiency in the delivery of medications to patients, while permitting enhanced consultations between pharmacist and health care professionals, patients and families. A new telemetry system allows medical staff to monitor patients as they are transported to various areas throughout the hospital.
One of the catalysts behind construction of the new hospital was the need for larger operating rooms that could accommodate new and future technology. UAB now has 37 new 625-square-feet operating rooms (current operating rooms in Jefferson Tower are 450 square feet).
Each operating suite in the facility has four flat-screen monitors to allow surgeons to view surgical images more easily. Surgical staff are able to access laboratory or biopsy results and images from radiology at the touch of a button. A central sterile corridor is equipped with carts that continually provide supplies to OR personnel.
“The design of this building represents the collaboration and expertise of hundreds of physicians, nurses and technicians,” said Dr. Scott Buchalter, chief of staff at University Hospital. “This hospital has literally been tailor-made to meet the exact requirements of our clinical staff. They are the ultimate authorities when it comes to patient care.”
Finally, visitors and patients to the emergency department will discover a 38,000-square-foot space that is roughly the size of a football field. The area will house 45 treatment rooms along with special areas for decontamination and private spaces for family counseling. The new department also boasts an on-site radiology unit with two high-speed CT scanners and a stat lab for prompt laboratory results. Three large trauma procedure rooms are equipped to handle two patients (or more) and are directly accessible by elevator from the new helipad on the 12th floor.
Preparations to move patients, personnel and equipment into the new facility have been under way for more than two years. Vacated space will be used to house some support services, administrative offices and clinical activities.