The Day After Move Day
By Julie Ruiz-Wibbelsmann
First impressions are important. When Connie Taylor-Smith of environmental services walked into the new Eden Medical Center, she was amazed: “I’ve worked here for 28 years and they said they were going to build a new hospital. And now it’s happened. And it’s awesome!”
Move Day Is Here: December 1, 2012!
By Julie Ruiz-Wibbelsmann
We are on the move! After years of planning, we are so excited to be moving into our new Eden Medical Center this Saturday, Dec. 1–just three years after breaking ground in July of 2009!
Constructing the 220,000-square-foot hospital and 80,000-square-foot medical office building required 22,000 cubic yards of concrete, 6.4 million pounds of structural steel and 43,000 square feet of glass.
But our state-of-the-art medical center is made of much more than steel and concrete: Patient-centered care is built into its core design.
“We’ve created a next generation medical center fully equipped with the latest technology,” said George Bischalaney, CEO, Eden Medical Center, “and an outstanding team of people dedicated to excellence in patient care. Tomorrow on Move Day, we will make our dream a reality as we open one of the most advanced medical centers in the East Bay Area.” Read More about Move Day Is Here: December 1, 2012!
Healing With Art
by Andrea Schwartz, art curator
The artwork creates a healing environment throughout our new Eden Medical Center by combining warm colors, textures and nurturing themes.
On the walls of the Birthing Center, for example, we’ve installed baby quilts embroidered with positive messages that reflect the color scheme of the Birthing Center. Near the Emergency Department, colorful monoprints of birds and organic shapes adorn the walls.
Digital photographs by Thea Shrack, installed in the 1st floor Birthing Center family waiting room
Our artwork also captures the unique aspects of the new medical center and our local community. Our customized collection is comprised of monoprints, collages, limited edition prints and paintings on paper—in addition to photography—as well as commissioned works mainly by San Francisco artists, one-third of who are from the East Bay. Read More about Healing With Art
Universal Care Unit: An Entirely New Patient Service
By Rose Corcoran, vice president patient care
Our Universal Care Unit (UCU) will offer a completely new patient care model by providing personalized care in private rooms for patients who do not require inpatient hospitalization yet still need care for several hours or overnight.
The Universal Care Unit (Level 02) is comprised of Diagnostic Testing, Peri Operative as well as the Observation Unit (see highlighted text with arrows).
When the new hospital opens on Dec. 1, we anticipate that Eden Medical Center will have the only Universal Care Unit in the East Bay licensed by the California Department of Public Health.
Who do we serve?
One primary reason for creating a Universal Care Unit is to better meet the needs of our patients. More and more patients today are cared for outside of hospitals, in outpatient facilities, mainly due to advances in technology such as minimally invasive surgeries.
At Eden, we offer many different types of minimally invasive procedures, such as knee and hip replacements, and back surgeries. Most are done on an outpatient basis, requiring a few hours of recovery or an overnight stay. These patients can avoid being admitted to the hospital by receiving care in our UCU, which is designed for patients who need care for 24 hours or less.
In addition to patients recovering from outpatient procedures, the UCU will care for patients who may need to be observed before going home as they recover from surgery and/or anesthesia for a few hours or overnight.
More efficient–and faster–care
Our 34-bed Universal Care Unit also will serve patients from the Emergency Department and Trauma Center who are not experiencing life-threatening conditions, but who need further observation, diagnostic testing/evaluation, or monitoring for a few hours or overnight.
By caring for these patients in the UCU, patients with critical care needs in the ED will be treated much sooner, increasing the efficiency of patient flow. In this way, the UCU will expedite care throughout the hospital by improving patient outcomes and reducing the length of stay.
Continuum of care
In our Universal Care Center, patients and their records will no longer move to a different room to receive a different level of care as their care needs change. Patients will stay in the same private room and different providers will come to their room to care for them. By eliminating patient transfers, our UCU will increase patient safety and comfort, while still delivering high quality care.
In addition, UCU patients will be cared for by an inpatient hospitalist who is available 24/7, and every room will have the capability to be monitored. By decentralizing our nursing stations, we will offer more personalized care for our patients and a better nurse-to-patient ratio with a higher number of nurses caring for each patient.
Keeping our UCU patients in the same private room will create a healing environment for them and their family members, who will be able to stay at the bedside of their loved one. Providing a safe and comfortable environment for patients and their families, our UCU promises to increase quality outcomes, enhance patient safety, and promote healing.
Fueling Our Local Economy
By George Hurley, DPR project executive
We have provided more than 1,200 construction jobs and drawn on local resources while building our new Eden hospital. Here’s a quick look at the positive impact we’ve made on our community:
- Approximately 700,000 work hours
- Averaged 150 workers on site
- Employed approximately 1,500 workers (e.g., carpenters, labors, plumbers, electricians, etc.)
- Used 26 percent local materials (within a 500 mile radius)
- Rented a meeting room from a local business for two years
- Purchased meals from 20 local restaurants
- Held team meetings at nine local restaurants
- Purchased office supplies from local businesses
- Made over 400 trips to a local coffee house
- Out-of-town teams have stayed in local hotels over 400 times
In addition to all of these items, we have been known to frequent a nearby watering hole, after hours.
We Got the Keys!
By Julie Ruiz-Wibbelsmann
Today, George Bischalaney, CEO of Eden Medical Center, received the keys to our new hospital at a ceremony on the patio garden.
Mr. Bischalaney reflected on the outstanding achievements of the project team over the past three years and their long, hard work in moving the new Eden Medical Center from an idea to a reality. “Today, I want to acknowledge all the amazing work our project team–along with the hundreds of men and women who worked on this project–has done to make this happen,” he said. “It’s a prideful and exciting day for us.”
He also added that it would not have happened without the time and efforts of Bryan Daylor, vice president of ancillary services at Eden Medical Center; Bob Bosold, project director for Eden Medical Center; and Cassandra Clark, communications lead for the team.
Project Team
“It’s unusual to deliver a project this complex on budget and on time,” explained Digby Christian, Sutter Health project manager, “but this team put forth an amazing effort to make that happen.”
George Hurley, DPR general contractor, noted: “It is an honor for us to be part of building such a great hospital. It was wonderful to see the design and construction teams working together so effectively and successfully, and what a great reception the local community gave us.”
“Now that we have the keys to our new hospital,” said Mr. Bischalaney, “I am excited and confident that we will continue to do great things as we move forward.”
With the handing over of the keys, we continue to transition to the new hospital, beginning with training and orientations for our staff, as we get ready for opening our doors on December 1, 2012.
Watch a time-lapse video of the construction of the new Eden Medical Center from July 2009 to July 2012.
The new hospital opens on December 1, 2012!
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