News / Periop Café

October 2019 Director of Surgical Services News Roundup

October 22, 2019

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October 2019 Director of Surgical Services News Roundup

In October 2019, hospitals expanded their surgical services, people and hospitals received awards, and virtual reality technology assisted in OR construction! Read on for more October 2019 director of surgical services news.

Palm Coast Hospital Adding New Operating Room

AdventHealth Palm Coast in Palm Coast, Florida, started construction on a new operating room. Currently, all of the existing six OR suites are completely filled to capacity. Unfortunately, this causes major problems when someone needs an emergency surgery.

In these cases, the emergency surgery takes priority and scheduled surgeries get bumped or canceled. Laurette Kiniery, the director of surgical services for the hospital, stated that once they complete this construction project, their scheduling woes will be significantly reduced.

Original story can be found here and here.

Kentucky Director of Surgical Services Leader Recognized as Emerging Community Leader

Congratulations to Patrick Maloney, the director of perioperative services at The Medical Center at Bowling Green in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Recently, WKNY news featured him as an emerging leader in his community.

Patrick oversees eight depts and 250 employees. He grew his skills by learning the jobs of all the people he supervises, spending time sitting with his employees and actually doing each job. He seeks to bridge the gap between the different departments at the medical center. However, he wants to overcome not just between specialities, but also between experience levels. Patrick believes that communication and everyone being on the same level playing field is very important.

Patrick earned his CNA at 17, then continued to work in healthcare through college and beyond. All the jobs he found interesting were done by nurses, so he continued on to become a nurse, and the rest is history! In addition to his work, he volunteers in the community with his church and through Western Kentucky University.

Original story can be found here.

Surgery Center Joins Biloxi Hospital

Memorial Hospital welcomed a new member of their team – The Surgery Center at Cedar Lake – both located in Biloxi, Mississippi. The surgery center changed its name to Memorial Surgery Center at Cedar Lake to reflect this new partnership.

Both parties celebrated the chance to serve even more members of the Gulf Coast community. This marks the third location for outpatient surgery offered by Memorial Hospital.

Original story can be found here.

Osage Medical Center Expanding Surgical Department

Mitchell County Regional Health Center in Osage, Iowa, began construction on a new surgical services project. This enhancement to their surgical department includes not only a new operating room, but recovery and same-day surgery rooms as well.

This project came about after an audit of the hospital’s needs. The center used data collected from facility and provider referrals to suss out what parts of the hospital needed the most attention.

Original story can be found here

San Bernadino Surgical Services Receives Charitable Gift

St. Bernadine Medical Center in San Bernadino, California, received a $100,000 donation from the Stater Bros. Charities and Inland Women Fighting Cancer. The funds came from the 11th Annual Believe Walk, hosted by the two organizations.

This generous donation will be used to add a new Da Vinci Xi Robot to the oncology department. The new technology gives the local community non-invasive surgical options without having to travel into Los Angeles.

Original story can be found here

Wickenburg Community Hospital Earns Surgical Award

Wickenburg Community Hospital in Wickenburg, Arizona, earned the Go Clear Award from AORN. This award recognizes facilities that eliminate hazardous smoke from their surgical procedures.

Surgical smoke is an occupational hazard for those who work in operating rooms. It is a byproduct of using lasers and electrosurgery devices and can include toxic chemicals like benzene, formaldehyde, and others. Studies show that a day of inhaling surgical smoke does a similar amount of damage as smoking 27-30 unfiltered cigarettes.

Dr. Lisa Erlinger, PhD, CRNA, the director of surgical services at the hospital, states that she is very proud of the entire staff for becoming only the second facility in Arizona to become smoke free. Congratulations!

Original story can be found here.

Virtual Reality Allows Hospitals to Perfect ORs Before Construction

McLaren Health Care’s newest hospital in Lansing, Michigan, doesn’t actually exist yet. However, the surgical services leaders are already touring the facility – virtually! Using virtual reality goggles, they are able to “walk” around the OR suites, ensuring that the construction plans are perfect.

These virtual tours allow the team to verify there is enough space to maneuver around the OR table and the correct equipment gets ordered, among other factors. The campus is set to open in early 2022, so they have plenty of time to make the best surgical services facility as possible.

Original story can be found here