The New Children's Hospital: A Blend of Art
and State-of-the-Art

 

As we move into our amazing new home, The Children's Hospital can look back on 100 years of experience and dedication to serving children and their families.

While our history serves us well, we are excited about the many operational and process changes geared to improve our service delivery. The improvements transcend the brick and mortar of our new building, laying the foundation for even better service from the only nationally recognized children’s hospital in the Rocky Mountain region.

Below, we have outlined a few of the key improvements that will benefit you and your patient families.

General Improvements for Patients, Providers and Staff

Outpatient Pavilion Operations Optimization

Inpatient Improvements

Technology Expedites and Entertains

Tighter Security, Safer Kids

Smoke-Free Campus Since July 2

Your Opportunity to See It All at the New Hospital

General Improvements for Patients, Providers and Staff

• 

  Located near the main entrance of the
  hospital on the first floor, Fresh Market
  Place is accompanied by a 24/7 food
  and beverage station as well as the
  espresso, ice cream and gelato bar.

  Our new hospital is easier to find and access near the intersection of I-225 and East Colfax.
• More parking. The visitor lot is now directly south of the main hospital entrance. There is a covered, heated walkway to minimize the elements for families. Valet parking is still available for patients and parents by the main entrance.
• Increased building security.
• A smoke-free campus since July 2.
• Logical way-finding and centralized patient family resources. Many of the services families seek are located in or near the Boettcher Atrium including:

      – Cafeteria

      – Gift Shop

      – Concierge

      – Registration and admissions

      – Family Health Library

      – Teen Lounge

• The new Family Hospitality Suite, which includes six of our 24 sleep rooms.
• A quieter, more private hospital which has been intentionally built to enhance healing in a family-centered environment.
• More than 1,000 specialists who are pediatric trained and certified. And, we are hiring more so that we can take care of more kids.
• We are moving with a heightened dedication to improving the happiness and comfort of our patients and their families. Many customer service programs will launch when we open our new doors.

Outpatient Pavilion Operations Optimization

Our Outpatient Pavilion houses the majority of our main campus clinics on four floors with a total of 160 patient care rooms. By adding exam rooms, we expect to offer 30-40 percent more appointments in many specialties.

The Outpatient Pavilion was strategically separated from our inpatient activities, to make navigating to outpatient clinics easier for patients and families. All patient care rooms in the Outpatient Pavilion are consistent in design and layout so they are interchangeable among most specialties, providing for a more efficient use of space. Our consolidation of clinic space will provide for improved utilization of our Therapeutic Recreation/ Child Life, medical interpreter and clinical social work services. Ancillary and diagnostic services such as radiology suites and therapy services have been located next to the clinical services that utilize them most. For example, radiology suites and OT/PT are next to the orthopedic and rehabilitation medicine clinics. We have also allocated space for outpatient research on the same floor as the majority of our medical specialties, making it convenient for patients to participate in research studies as part of their clinical care.

Using computer simulation software, our Ambulatory leaders and providers worked for months to identify the best patient flow for our clinics. As a result, the following patient check-in process will be introduced when we open our outpatient clinics on September 25:

• Patients and families will be badged upon entrance to the hospital as a part of the hospital’s overall plan to enhance safety and security.
  

  Animal icons for each floor help patients and families find their way
  at the new hospital.

• There is an reception desk at the entrance to each floor of the Outpatient Pavilion. We will have the ability to check-in up to six patients simultaneously to avoid patients and families waiting in line.
• As they check in, patients will receive a color-coded pager to alert them to which door to enter when the provider is ready for them.

      – Each floor has six doorways, each with a distinctive, bright color that relates to our hospital’s color scheme.

      – Each floor also has an animal theme which is carried out along the entry.

• Patient Financial Services will be available on each floor of the Outpatient Pavilion. After checking in, financial counselors will be available to help families if assistance is needed. 
• Families will sit in the colorful reception area which has a bank of windows across the south side of the building. The reception area includes a variety of seating options for up to 150 people. Additional amenities include:

      – Wireless internet and cell phone access for patient families.

      – Colorful play areas for patients and siblings.

      – Easier way-finding to the cafeteria and other family services.

• When the colored pager is activated, the patient and family will walk towards the door that matches the color of their pager, ensuring better protection of their privacy. A medical assistant will walk out to greet them and take them back to their exam room.
• After the appointment, patient families will be directed to a separate check out area. This will allow them to formally complete the appointment, as well as, schedule any follow-ups or surgeries, receive prescriptions and be sure all of their questions have been answered.

      – This previously was handled by the same check-in person in our clinics. By separating the check-in and check-out, we will save our patients time and give them a higher level of customer service.

Inpatient Improvements

Most noticeably, every inpatient room at the new hospital is a private room. Each has a bathroom and a pullout bed comfortable enough for two adults to sleep. Private inpatient rooms will expedite patient flow, as we no longer have to juggle roommate cohorting challenges. For instance, at our current downtown location we may have had empty beds because we avoided placing a 3-year-old boy with a 14-year-old girl.

We have also created respite areas around each inpatient floor and a play/activity room staffed by our Child Life Specialist and volunteers. The play rooms will have computers and offer activities to patients and their families.

Additionally, inpatient operations are now working to improve patient flows and overall patient satisfaction. Some of the resulting initiatives include:

• Patient placement systems including electronic bed boards to track inpatient beds and their status.
• Maximize communication with Environmental Services to improve room turnovers.
• A new transport system that will speed up patient throughput, from time of admit to discharge.
• Daily care coordination whereby multidisciplinary teams review each patient every day and consider discharge planning throughout the inpatient admission. Discharge planning will carry measurable milestones to ensure continued quality and consistency.

In July, Children’s expanded its hospitalist program at the main campus to include inpatient units. The hospitalists are on the wards during the day and on call overnight.

When The Children’s Hospital at Parker Adventist Hospital opened, hospitalists attended on inpatients with great success. Community providers and patient families appreciated the sterling service from its inception.

Expanding the hospitalist program has delivered more seamless communication with our community providers, both those who attend on their own patients and those who do not. The hospitalist staff will be using metrics to measure clinical outcomes including the consistency of their communication with providers. While housestaff plays a vital role in the care of your patients, the hospitalists also provide additional medical management of inpatients.

Part of their daily routine will include family-centered rounding. Rounds will take place in front of and include families.

Customer Service is also supporting several important operational improvements on our wards:

• The reception area on each inpatient floor will be staffed 24/7 by trained employees to help families after their child is admitted.
• Hourly rounding will be introduced at the new campus. The goal is to have the family checked on every hour of the day and will include providers, administrative staff and environmental services staff.

Technology Expedites and Entertains

The latest technology is everywhere at The new  Children’s Hospital, helping pediatric patients get diagnosed faster, expediting their care and making their stay more comfortable and convenient for everyone in the family.

Some of the improvements are easy to spot – like flat-screen televisions and built-in “patient portals” providing TV programming, games, movies and Internet in every inpatient room. While others help deliver our world-class care from behind the scenes, such as wireless Internet access throughout the hospital and a special signal-boosting system for better cell phone reception.

Here are a few ways technology will help make The new Children’s Hospital better in every way:

• The new hospital will be a quieter place thanks to acoustical engineering and integrated paging that eliminates the need for an overhead “public address” system.
• A fully-integrated electronic medical record (EMR) improves clinical documentation, communications, privacy and – most importantly – patient safety. The Children’s Hospital is the first pediatric hospital in the country to have a fully-integrated electronic medical record. This means that the EMR provides clinical and administrative information real time to all clinicians involved in a patient’s care.
• The facility will be 100 percent wireless-capable, meaning that laptops, Blackberries and other wireless devices will have secure access everywhere inside the hospital, outpatient center and office building.
• A Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone network simplifies communications between physicians, nurses and other caregivers through the use of personal communication devices, which are similar to cell phones.
• An enhanced nurse-call system will deploy as many as 1,500 wireless phones to caregivers to improve communication among care staff and their patients.
• Dedicated space for “telemedicine” allows for more efficient sharing of images and information – even with doctors outside the building.
• “Patient portals” provide in-room education and entertainment, as well as the ability to send electronic “room service” orders to the cafeteria.
• A state-of-the-art teen center includes an indoor cinema-quality movie theater.
• A building automation system monitors and maintains a safe, comfortable environment 24 hours a day.

Tighter Security, Safer Kids

Children’s joins hospitals across the nation with its enhanced security processes. Our new campus operations will allow safe, secure 24-hour access by authorized staff, patients, families and vendors, while controlling access by non-authorized persons.

Everyone who enters the building will be required to have a badge or obtain a visitor badge at one of three badging stations. The process takes less than a minute for guests with a valid ID. If a visitor does not have an ID, a photo will be taken and personal data entered into our systems, taking just a few more seconds.

Other security enhancements include:

• Fewer entry points into the building
• Enhanced technology to control and monitor equipment and supplies
• Card access for non-public elevator access
• A 40 percent increase in security guard staffing 
• Additional lighting and call boxes campus wide

Smoke-Free Campus Since July 2

To ensure the health of our patients, staff and visitors, The Children’s Hospital campus became smoke-free effective July 2. All areas inside, adjacent to, and including contiguous property are smoke-free.

Staff and security personnel have been trained to inform families and assist them in finding an off-campus location to smoke. This regulation will carry over to the new campus.

In preparation for this change, the hospital has offered staff resources to quit smoking. Success stories of long time smokers deciding to quit abound!

Families needing nicotine replacement therapy can find help in the hospital. Units are able to order a one day supply of nicotine gum for the smoker at no charge to them. Staff also have lists of smoking cessation programs if the family shows interest in quitting.

Your Opportunity to See It All at the New Hospital

At press time, 4,000 employees and faculty have completed their new hospital orientation and 300 community providers have come for a tour of the new facility. If you have not had a chance to see the new hospital, the Physician Relations team will be on call to show off our new hospital in the weeks and months following our opening. Just give us a call at (720) 777-6676 to schedule your tour!

Virtual Tour Available Online

Want to see more? Visit our Virtual Tour online. Take a trip into our new facility designed solely for the healthcare of kids.