Lots of Reasons Why Physicians Will Love the New Hospital

Posted on Feb 9, 2009

Dr. Sidney Wanetick

Sidney Wanetick, M.D.

My name is Sidney Wanetick. For 26 years, I was in practice as an OB-GYN in Castro Valley, and I delivered more than 3,000 babies at Eden Medical Center.

In 2008, I retired from practice to accept the position of Vice President of Medical Affairs at Eden Medical Center. Today, I serve as the administrative liaison between the medical staff and administration, helping to support our physicians as they provide high quality care to our patients now and as we look to the future of Eden.

In addition to other duties, I am actively involved in assisting our physicians in recruiting new physicians to the community.

I’m very excited about the new Sutter Health hospital that is replacing Eden. Several major benefits stand out. In particular, having all private rooms for patients will make a huge difference, bringing more services to their bedsides and giving them more quality time with their doctors.

From the physician’s standpoint, this is a much better way to take care of patients and have important conversations with family members in private, as well as offer patients the privacy and rest needed for recuperation. The nurses’ stations will have a view of every patient’s room for faster response to patient needs.

The whole atmosphere of the new hospital will feel less institutional and more supportive, soothing and restful.

Today, even though Eden has 176 beds, we are unable to utilize all of these beds. Most rooms are semi-private, with very few private rooms and even a few four-bed wards. Yet, we can’t put men and women together, and we can’t mix patients with infections in with the general patient population. So even though Eden is larger, the Sutter replacement hospital will end up with a much better capacity for utilization of services.

Moreover, we are seeing a steady decline in the number of patients admitted to the hospital for more extended periods of time. When I first started my practice we admitted twice as many patients for surgery as we do today. My patients stayed in the hospital for five days or more! Also, if patients were scheduled for surgery, they would be admitted the night before. Today patients often have surgery and are discharged the same day, or, if they are admitted, the average length of stay is much shorter.

In addition to the 130 acute care beds, we’ll have a 34-bed, multi-purpose Universal Care Unit (UCU), which also supports the shorter hospital stay. Let’s say an Emergency Room patient has been treated and needs to stay for observation, but not necessarily be admitted. He or she can rest comfortably in the UCU. Or, if a patient is recovering from same-day surgery, we could have him assigned to a UCU bed where he’ll get the attention he needs.

There will also be vast improvements in our information technology systems that just aren’t possible at Eden; our current system has reached capacity. With the new electronic medical records system, our clinical staff will have access to lab reports, x-rays, medication, etc., right at their fingertips. Recent studies have demonstrated improved outcomes and fewer errors in centers that have electronic records, and the new hospital will have innovative, secure electronic records and data systems.

I welcome your comments and questions. Please feel free to leave a comment by clicking on the title of this post (if you are on the front page of the blog), and a comment box will appear below.