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$73M surgery, rehab center set for York Twp.
Jan 22, 2010 (The York Dispatch - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Residents will soon have an in-patient orthopedic surgery center in York County thanks to a $73 million WellSpan Health project.
The organization aims to break ground on its 73-bed Surgery and Rehabilitation Hospital in the spring on the Apple Hill Health campus in York Township. Completion is expected early next year.
Surgeons and administrators said Thursday that the new facility's design incorporates efficiency that will reduce risk of infection and medical mistakes, plus save time and money.
Rooms are equipped with "Smart Room" technology. That will provide patients with electronic message capabilities and interactive education and entertainment consoles.
Data, stat: For doctors, the "Smart Room" will upload data from vital sign machines, intravenous pumps and respiratory machines directly into electronic patient records.
Those records, coupled with voice-recognition charting, are imperative in reducing mistakes and communication gaps that occur during "hand-off," said Dr. Robert Schlegel, a WellSpan neurosurgeon.
He said too much information is lost when a patient is transferred from one department -- or doctor -- to another. With the new system, real-time information is placed directly into an electronic record that can be accessed and added to throughout the facility.
"This way I know exactly what's going on when I walk in the room," Schlegel said.
Additionally, operating rooms are bigger to accommodate full medical teams and the accoutrements necessary during surgery. Schlegel said a fully stocked operating room reduces the number of trips in and out, which in turn reduces infection rates.
The rooms also will be equipped with mobile monitors mounted on robotic arms; the mobility enables easy viewing by doctors during surgery.
The facility also will allow WellSpan's York Hospital to discharge patients to the fully staffed facility that also will feature on-site rehabilitation services.
The specialty hospital will allow York Hospital to treat more patients at its South George Street location, where patient volume has been high for the past several years, said Barry Sparks, spokesman for York Hospital.
The addition of rehabilitation beds allows York Hospital to discharge some patients more easily, which in turn frees up beds for other patients, Sparks explained.
To see more of The York Dispatch or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.yorkdispatch.com/. Copyright (c) 2010, The York Dispatch, Pa.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email
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