“It’s been an awesome fall,” said Boldt superintendent Ruth Drake to the Cook County North Shore (CCNSH) Hospital Board at its December 17 meeting.
Drake was there to give an update about the hospital/ care center $24.5 million campus expansion.
Scheduled to take two years, work is currently going on at the southeast and northwest portions of the care center.
The work most noticeable to the public has been the building of the mezzanine, with crews setting structural steel for the mezzanine and setting wood trusses over the addition.
Drake said work in the mechanical room was almost done and the new boilers should be up and running before it gets too cold. A concrete slab has been poured in the south care center addition.
Hospital/Care Center Director Kimber Wraalstad said residents have been relocated as a result of the construction, and the process has “gone smoothly.”
As carpenters get closer to buttoning up the mezzanine, Drake said more construction workers would be employed. “We should have 30-35 construction workers on site in January. You will see dry-wallers, more electricians, more plumbers, and carpenters on site as the work goes indoors.”
As far as reported accidents, Drake said so far there haven’t been any reported incidents. She said Boldt was very proactive and continually works to monitor workers and site conditions in order to avoid “slips and trips” and other conditions that could be hazardous to employees’ health.
When complete, the 16-bed critical care access hospital and 37-bed nursing care center will include 16 new private hospital patient rooms, a family waiting area, ER with trauma bays, extra rooms, a new ambulance entrance and a unified nurse’s station for acute care.
New spaces will be made for the radiology, pharmacy and therapy labs, as well as a room for surgery and outpatient development.
The dining and kitchen areas will be relocated and updated as well as offices for administration and support services. The front entrance and reception areas will also be new, and the boiler room will have new propane burning furnaces. Other upgrades include new wiring, plumbing, and insulation where needed. The nursing home will have completely renovated and redesigned rooms that will be bigger and “homier” than current rooms.
Amy James, Care Center RN and alternate MDS Coordinator, has agreed to serve as project leader for the transformation to the “Household model” in the care center. She is coordinating staff training and using Artifacts of Cultural Change developed by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. James, said Wraalstad, repeatedly noted that the care center is not an institution, it’s a home.
Most of the training should be completed by the time the new rooms are finished, but will remain ongoing for the staff. Under this new model, every worker from medical staff to janitorial staff and in-between will be required to take note of a care center residents’ needs and help—or get help—when it’s needed. This might be anything from getting a new pillow to calling on medical staff to come to assist a resident in stress.
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