Referring Physicians Weigh In On “The Move”

from Practice Update, Spring 2007

We’d like to thank all of our community partners who responded to the 2006 Children’s Hospital Referring Physician Survey. Here’s what you told us about the move—what concerns we need to address and what you look forward to at The new Children’s Hospital.

Remind me why the hospital decided to move and why to Fitzsimons?

We have outgrown our current location from both capacity and technological point of view. The opportunity at Fitzsimons—essentially a blank canvas—allowed us to design and build one of the country’s premier pediatric hospitals from the ground up. Our new location will help strengthen our affiliation with the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center , reinforcing our position as a leader in pediatric medical education. Over one million square feet of research space will be built on the campus by the end of 2008, affording pediatric physician-scientists opportunities to advance future cures and therapies. Most importantly, we are relocating to further solidify and deliver our mission of improving and saving young lives.

What is unique or new about how the hospital was designed?

Careful thought went into designing our new hospital to deliver the most healing care to our patients and families. From the beginning, our design partners, architects, doctors, nurses, employees, patients and families have been involved in planning. For every space—clinics, waiting rooms, patient rooms, corridors, play areas, operating rooms, gardens and respite areas—we’ve considered how natural elements of light, touch, sound and color can be combined to create a soothing, comforting environment most conducive to healing.

The hospital has also been designed to group similar clinical units adjacently for more efficient delivery of patient care. New adjacencies and communication technologies will surely simplify the consultation process, making it easy for providers to more effectively consult across disciplines. Examples of where you will see the greatest changes are the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders where all clinics, infusion and inpatient rooms will be contiguous on one floor and the Heart Institute where CVOR’s, Cath Labs and the CICU will be grouped together.

How big is The new Children’s Hospital?

One million four hundred-forty thousand square feet—including the inpatient facility, outpatient buildings, a 250,000 sq. ft. administrative office building, a 140,000 sq. ft. clinical building and a dentistry building. In total, our new facility could encompass the entire Cherry Creek Mall building structure. The new hospital will have a total of 2,144 parking spaces.

I am concerned about the distance my patients will have to travel to the new hospital.

Many drive times to the new hospital from key locations in the metro Denver area will be faster due to more direct interstate routes. The graphic below compares drive times from many areas of the city.

For many families, a trip to the main campus may not be necessary. The new Children’s Hospital will be the hub of our growing healthcare network. To deliver convenient, close-to-home pediatric care to young patients throughout the Front Range, our network will soon include 12 locations, including The Children’s Hospital at Saint Joseph Hospital (ED and inpatient beds), an expanded west metro satellite and a partnership with Memorial Hospital for Children in Colorado Springs.

Online health information is delivered through our newly redesigned, resource-rich website for parents and families (www.thechildrenshospital.org). Additionally, our physicians and healthcare professionals travel to more than 400 outreach clinic locations each year in Colorado and surrounding states.

What about some of my favorite CME events—will they still be held, and what if it’s too far for me to travel?

The tried and true CME favorites (Pediatric Office Update, Grand Rounds), conferences and classes will be held in our new, fully-wired and interactive conference center. The conference center was designed to facilitate education and learning. Advanced technology will allow more computer-based education—including web-based streaming video—to be placed on our website. New CME certifications will allow credit to be given for participating remotely!

I have heard that The new Children’s Hospital has “state-of-the-art technology.” What does that mean?

Some of the technology at the new hospital includes:

• Nurse call capability enabling patients and families to more effectively communicate directly with their nursing caregiver.
• A fully integrated electronic medical record which will enable a patient’s medical records to be accessible to all providers involved in a child’s care, improve clinical documentation, communications, privacy and most importantly, patient safety.
• Telecommunications systems that foster reduced ambient noise levels patients and families frequently experience (and complain about) in hospitals.
• In-room entertainment and communication portal (video-on-demand, Internet access, meal service, games and education).
• Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone network that simplifies communications between physicians, nurses and other caregivers through the use of personal communication devices (think of these as in-building wireless phones).
• Virtually building-wide wireless network connectivity available to staff and visitors which will enhance customer service delivery.
• Cellular phone signal re-radiating system—ensures reliable cellular service coverage in the buildings for those with most popular local service providers.
• Sophisticated security systems will allow only authorized visitors access to patient floors.
• A state-of-the-art teen center, including an indoor cinema-quality movie theater.
• A building automation system to monitor and maintain the building environment (temperature, air handling), positive/negative pressure flows in patient rooms, building life-safety systems, building security, all refrigeration systems and other laboratory equipment 24/7.
• A more robust physical data center and ultra-fast network for reliable and efficient data management.
• A wide array of new, state-of-the-art medical equipment (i.e. PET/CT scanner).

Will the rooms and amenities for patients and families be different?

All but 30 of the inpatient bed space (rooms) are private and:

• larger
• have natural lighting
• offer desks, dataports and network access
• offer the latest healthcare technology at the bedside
• allow both parents to sleep comfortably in their child’s room

Kid-friendly features include:

• Outdoor play areas with handicap-accessible equipment
• Countertops at “kid level” in reception areas
• Activity rooms with Internet access and entertainment equipment
  

  The surgical booms have been installed

  in the operating rooms.

• Video-on-demand in patient rooms and activity areas

Family amenities include:

• comfortable family lounges and quiet respite areas with beautiful outside views
• expanded laundry facilities
• “room service” food menus from which to choose meals and snacks
• waiting rooms and play areas for patients and siblings
• a family library, with access to computers and the internet
• age-appropriate spaces (i.e. teen center)
• concierge service

Will there be increased bed availability?

Most inpatient rooms at The new Children’s Hospital are single-occupancy rooms. This affords absolute privacy and better infection control measures. Our new inpatient bed count will be 270 beds! The new hospitalist program recently put into service at our present location will be expanded and fully staffed in the new hospital. These providers will be on call to streamline the patient admission and discharge process.

Can I still attend on my own patients—are you still an open medical staff?

Yes, The Children’s Hospital maintains an open medical staff policy, and you are welcome to be involved in the care of your patients. You may continue to do so—from full attending to courtesy visits. If the move has prompted you to consider changing your level of privileges, please contact our medical staff office at (303) 861-6652 or by email at mceahern.colleen@tchden.org. Information regarding new facility orientation for medical staff with active privileges will be communicated in late spring.

Whenever a new hospital opens it takes some time to work the bugs out—what is Children’s doing to anticipate that?

We are really not a “new” hospital—we are an established hospital with 100 years of experience—moving to an amazing new facility. Since January of 2005, experienced leaders have been developing a comprehensive transition and occupancy plan that will get us to the new hospital. Seven organized transition committees have responsibilities directed toward patient care, information technology, support services, education, communications and staff transition. Although we anticipate a few “bugs” will appear after the fact, we are confident they will be quickly resolved by our leadership team.

When will the moves occur?

• Outpatient clinics (except Hematology/Oncology/Transplant and Renal Dialysis) will move on Friday, September 21 through Monday, September 24, 2007.
• Inpatient (including the emergency department and remaining clinics) will move on September 29 and 30, 2007.

When it comes time for the inpatient move what will that be like for patients?

The Patient Care transition committee has developed a comprehensive plan to ensure the safe and efficient transfer of inpatients on move day. Inpatients will be moved by ground transport in one of several modalities ranging from ambulances specially equipped and staffed for critical care transport, to special transit vehicles suitable for ambulatory and handicapped patients.

On Saturday, February 24, 2007, The Children’s Hospital Patient Move Team conducted a mock-patient transfer exercise, which, by all accounts, was very successful. Seven mock-patient scenarios were successfully transferred to their new beds in our new hospital at Fitzsimons. Two ambulances and one special transit vehicle were employed. By simulating the patient transfer, Patient Move Team members were oriented to the established move processes. They learned how patient information will flow, team-member roles and responsibilities, and how to use our patient tracking system developed for this purpose. A second mock-patient transfer is planned for later this summer, however, it will likely be a table-top exercise focused on communication and will not involve physically moving mock-patients to the new campus via ground transport.

How will I know if a patient of mine has moved?

All providers with patients from their practice in the hospital at the time of the move will be contacted before and after the inpatient move. Additionally, providers may contact the hospital during the move to check on the status of any of their respective patients.

When will I get to see the new hospital and, if I come for a visit, who can show me around?

Plans for pre-opening events and tours are being finalized. Watch for future information to be forthcoming about these events. Once the hospital opens there will be a Physician Relations Representative on call daily, available to provide private tours and answer questions. Please call us at (303) 861-6676 to arrange.

What if I have other questions?

Please contact the Physician Relations department at (303) 861-6676 and we’ll be happy to assist you.