Texas Health HEB Announces Plans for $25 Million High-Acuity Care Expansion
Improvements will enhance patient experience for critically illwhile continuing to provide advanced care
BEDFORD, TEXAS, Feb. 5, 2015 – Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford will soon begin construction on a $25 million expansion aimed at improving the care experience for the most critically ill patients in Northeast Tarrant County. Groundbreaking is set for Feb. 10, 2015, with completion in mid-2016.
The three-story building expansion will tie into the hospital’s existing tower. Features of the expansion include:
- A new 18-bed high-acuity intensive care unit (ICU)
- A new dedicated interventional radiology suite
- Expansion room for future patient care needs
The new ICU will feature private rooms that allow critically ill patients to remain in the same room as their condition changes from admission to discharge. This is made possible by the use of flexible “universal” beds. Instead of moving patients to different rooms as their status changes, nursing staff will rotate through the patient room according to their skill sets.
“We’ve always put the patient first while providing high-quality, compassionate care,” said Margaret Markey, B.S.N., R.N., CCRN, nursing manager for critical care at Texas Health HEB. “Now we’ll have the tools to make the patient experience great. From increased quiet to more room for visiting family members, the new high-acuity rooms are designed around patient needs to speed the healing process.”
“High-acuity care using universal beds means patients don’t have to be transferred multiple times to different levels of care, since the level of care changes rather than the patient’s location,” said Gary L. Jones, M.D., FACP, FCCP, pulmonologist and critical care medicine physician on the medical staff at Texas HEB. “That’s a tremendous benefit for patients and caregivers alike.”
Four of the 18 ICU rooms will be dedicated to bariatric care, featuring ceiling lifts that help move the patient from bed to bathroom. The new unit will also include two isolation rooms for patients with contagious or infectious diseases.
Almost 4,000 patients annually are treated in the existing 14-bed ICU. The current unit will be refurbished as a short-stay unit after the new building is complete. The increased ICU capacity will be important as the hospital continues to shift its inpatient care focus to more acutely ill patients.
The new interventional radiology suite will allow physicians to perform minimally invasive, imaging-guided procedures that help in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic illnesses and vascular diseases, such as kidney disease, liver disease and abnormal blood clotting. Interventional radiology procedures are less invasive and more targeted, minimizing pain and patient recovery times.
“This $25 million expansion is an enhancement to our already outstanding cadre of services and dedicated to the Northeast Tarrant Community. The most critically ill patients deserve the highest quality and safest care possible, in addition to the latest technology,” said Deborah Paganelli, FACHE, president of Texas Health HEB.
“This expansion allows us to chart the future of patient care, ” said Paganelli.
The public is invited to the groundbreaking event for the new facility at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2015, at Texas Health HEB, 1600 Hospital Parkway in Bedford.