The effect of the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing has reached Cook County directly. Cook County North Shore Hospital & Care Center Board Chair Tom Spence told the hospital board on April 25 that he was there.
Spence said he was at the finish line when his daughter finished the race just 12 minutes before the first of the two bombs went off. He and his family were safe from harm but witnessed the city’s first response and emergency management services kick in.
Spence said he has great respect for the First Responders, law enforcement, and medical personnel who responded and was very impressed with the worldclass medical facilities in Boston.
“It was an experience I never want to go through again,” he said, “but to watch those people do their jobs was an experience I’ll never forget.”
Dr. Sandra Stover said she is always amazed at the number of people who show up to help with emergencies in Cook County. She said they do a lot of practicing for emergencies and have protocols for all levels of disaster. They could use more EMTs, however, she said.
In a discussion of the possibility of remodeling the hospital complex, St. Luke’s President John Strange, at the meeting via speakerphone, said that the emergency room (ER) seems to be the most important service North Shore Hospital provides to the community, followed by the care center and outpatient services (such as lab and radiology).
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MinnesAdministratorta Kimber Wraalstad said that they would need to come up with a set of guiding principles as they consider a remodeling project. It could include things like preserving patient confidentiality, making use of modern technology, creating a comfortable environment, reflecting the community in the design of the facility, maintaining safetyN fortw patientsrk and staff, being adaptableYouto change,n w paperemaining open to innovation,has standardizingreed to participate procedures when possible, andn theincorporating 2×2 sustainableDisplay(“green”)Adpractices.Networ
Wraalstad programsaid employeesby ru wouldning be asked for inputtheseon adsthe inguidinghe m principles. in
“I feel it’snewshugelysect onimportantof your that the medical providersnewspa rand(n employeest the feel that thesec assiare theiried s owncti n guidingf principles,” saidy Boardur n Chairs p r)Spence.At
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Wraalstad said, they will need get input from careto tobcenterd patients igh and their families, ER visitors,in siz andf hospital and swingourbedc lumnpatientssi ons what they would like to see. A renovation committee wouldPlea econsistdo no biof employees, o medical staff,theseboardads fmembers,ou have and community membersq estion Thep ea processe call of looking into theMNApossibilityat 800/of renovating 79 has some natural97 T stopping ifk points along the way, she said, ythey decide it’s not a good idea. Upgrades will continue to be needed, however, as the field of health care changes, she said.
Howard Abrahamson said he wasn’t sure he wanted to spend money on renovation until they know where health care reimbursement will go in the next couple of years, such as with the federal Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (“Obama Care”). Wraalstad pointed out that health care will always keep changing. The only thing that won’t change is the fact that people are going to need health care. Spence said that if they wait until the changes slow down, they would never get a project done.
Wraalstad said she does not expect extra funding for critical access hospitals (which are not close to other hospitals and don’t get the volume more metropolitan hospitals do) to go away, but changes will continue.
John Strange asked what the hospital’s average daily census was, and Wraalstad said it was probably around five patients. Strange said reimbursers are going to look at what services are used most. Kay Olsen asked if the facility would still be a hospital if it had no inpatient care. Strange said yes and added that he thinks the definition of a hospital is going to change. If he were designing a renovation for North Shore Hospital, he said, he would design it for fewer than 16 beds, which is the hospital’s current capacity.
Wraalstad said rooms could be designed with flexible use in mind or could be built for multiple purposes. They are looking at a 40-year financing period, she said, so the design would need to be flexible into the future. Strange said St. Luke’s now routinely builds 30×30-foot spaces held up by pillars in order to be maximally flexible for future needs.
“Flexibility has to be a guiding principle,” Wraalstad said.
Strange said St. Luke’s is looking at building a new operating room. After getting design ideas from the doctors and nurses, theyMinneplan otto tape off an area with a preliminary layout and have the medical staff check it out and make further suggestions.
Spence said he thinks having the North Shore Hospital staff talk to the architects would be worth the expense.
Wraalstad said she would work on getting input Yourfrom the staffewspapeon guiding principles, takeh stepsg eedthat tocouldp lead to an architecturaltici design,atereimbursementinfinancing and andth 2x2look into for the potentialrenovation.D pl dN k In other hospitalt s news:ds in . AccountantnewsJim Spreitzersection o ofy McGladrey LLPewspof Duluthper reviewedot the his firm’s auditcl ofssthef edhospital’sction 2012f books. Incomey was $272,587, much better than the previousw p ) Ayear’s loss of $864,075. tHemes,consideredad er itsea “remarkable”mayyear.equest“You rea specifdoing really well,” he said. This year is not shapingi up to lbe as good as last, msaidtelControlleru to Yvonnee c Gennrich. saide c e. Gennrich the hospital is trying to find ways tos imakely goodsi euse ofi telemedicine opportunities,ur column i suchs as allowing patients to consult with a psychiatrist overleasethedoInternetnot bi insteadfor of being transferredthese adsto fDuluthyou haveand being sent rightqu stionback top thes county,c l which often happensMNA a now80 Tom Spence said29 9it wouldTh nk you.be good to create a space for telemedicine if they remodel the hospital. . Dr. Stover reported that the clinic team “whooped the butt off” the hospital team in Feburary’s Move It! event in which community members tal ied the r exercise for the month Wraalstad pointed out that the individual who reported the highest amount of exercise was Charlie Butter, a hospital employee.
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