Physical Connection to Hospital Provides Tennessee Outpatient Center With the Best of Both Worlds
By Sam W. Burnette, AIA
“Our new surgery center provides the best of both worlds,” says Dennis Miller, CEO of Williamson Medical Center. “As it is managed separately from our hospital, in all respects it operates as a freestanding surgery center. Having a physical connection to our hospital, however, offers the valuable advantages of convenience and safety for patients and convenience for physicians,” Miller adds.
In order to capture the primary service market of its location outside of Nashville, Williamson Medical Center saw the need to build an outpatient surgery center to house and promote its strong outpatient program as well as to stem the flow of the county’s residents to outpatient facilities in Nashville. While the hospital already did a significant amount of outpatient surgery, patients undergoing these procedures had to go through the normal hospital process before having outpatient work done. The separate center now enables the process to be as quick and easy as possible.
The medical center initially considered having a separate, freestanding outpatient surgery center apart from its hospital, but its site proved more adaptable to building an integrated facility. The independent surgery center, the anchor tenant of a recently completed medical office building, is located immediately off the vestibule of the medical building’s main entrance. The surgery center is part of Williamson Medical Center’s $80 million expansion and renovation. The new 22,162-square-foot outpatient surgery center has the best of both worlds with its separate storefront convenience as well as attachment to the hospital through a connecting corridor. A separate, discreet discharge exit is provided at the opposite end of the suite.
In designing the medical center’s expansion, we took advantage of the site’s natural 14-foot drop to maximize outpatient surgery access without compromising hospital access at the lower level. Integration with the hospital allows the surgery center to outsource support services to its physical host for operational efficiencies and, at the same time, avoid duplication of central sterile, lab, processing, pharmacy and environmental services.
Multiple outpatient invasive specialty services include cosmetic, eye and gynecological surgeries. The hospital, which does a sizable number of endoscopies, will move that procedure to the outpatient surgery center as well. The surgery suite is designed to accommodate the various specializations with the utilization of all rooms instead of having certain rooms dedicated to specialties and then sometimes sitting vacant.
Registration and pre-procedural testing is done in the confines of the surgery center. Staging and recovery are adjacent to the post-surgery unit. Private patient bays are designed to swing from one purpose to another quickly and easily to maximize operational efficiency and minimize patient beds.
This surgery center model’s direct connectivity allows physicians to save valuable time by scheduling both inpatient and outpatient surgery in the same shift as well as providing convenience for follow-up observation. “Physicians can literally go down the hall from an inpatient surgery to an outpatient surgery or procedure,” says Miller.
In the event that any complications arise following outpatient surgery, patient transfer to the inpatient hospital can be handled quickly without going outside the building. This proximity also precludes the need to keep the outpatient facility open all night for one patient. Vertical synergy of the medical office building additionally benefits physicians who can have offices in one of the five floors above the outpatient surgery center by letting them remain on site in administering to their patients.
Should the outpatient surgery center need to expand in 10 to 20 years, the facility is designed to easily expand its current four operating rooms to six and have the ability to eventually expand up to eight without compromising adjacent growth of the hospital.
The soothing finishes of the outpatient center are based on a palette of monochromatic earth tones with splashes of color. Dark wood and natural stone are used on the reception desk in the waiting area. Rather than relying on recessed lighting, sconces behind the desk and pendants in the waiting area give this area a rich, warm appearance. Aesthetic treatments that include silk-like draperies and bordered carpeting create a comfortable and natural environment that relates well to the center’s patients and staff, both of whom are enjoying “the best of both worlds” in their new confines.
Sam W. Burnette, AIA, is senior project designer/principal with Earl Swensson Associates, Inc.