Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center to Undertake $20 Million OR Renovation

“Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center is already known for its world-class cardiac care, as well as its excellence in general surgery, orthopedics and spine,” said CEO Jeffrey M. Welch. “Now we’re taking our surgical area to a whole new level by adding additional suites and technology.”

 

Plans call for building four new 800 sq. ft. operating room suites outside the footprint of the existing hospital. Once the suites are completed, renovation will begin on the 28-bed pre- and post-operative area, and a contiguous space, that will include dedicated elevators to the second and third floors, will be created within the OR area to ensure patient privacy.

 

In addition, a brand new central sterile supply area will be created; the pharmacy area will be updated, and renovations will be made to the Materials Management and Health Information Management areas.

 

“We currently have 10 OR suites, but they are relatively small, and most have been there for between 10 and 15 years,” said Welch. “Because of advancements in technology, we need to make room for more equipment in each operating room; for example, one of the ORs will house the Da Vinci robotic system that is used in urology, bariatrics and general surgery, while other rooms will be dedicated to general surgery, orthopedics and spine.”

 

In addition to the $2.5 million Da Vinci system, upgrades will include the installation of a 256-slice CT scanner, special lighting, new anesthesia machines and more. The new OR suites are expected to come online in the second quarter of 2017.

 

“It’s the right thing for the community,” said Welch, adding that the medical center is focused on creating better, more efficient processes for patients. “The community here is growing, and we need to take our facility to the next phase in order to match that growth.”

 

With these renovations, the medical center expects to increase capacity by 10 to 20 percent; its doctors currently perform approximately 5,000 surgeries a year. This renovation is also expected to bolster its cardiac program, which has performed 16,000 open heart surgeries to date.

 

“This expansion will give us the opportunity to provide better care for patients in light of new technology and will enable us to continue to earn even more accolades for our care,” said Welch.

 

In 2017, Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center was the only hospital in Florida to receive all three Healthgrades® America’s Best Cardiac Specialty Awards – America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Surgery™, America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Coronary Intervention™, and America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care™.

 

“Our surgeons are very excited about the opportunity to have new suites and new technology that will benefit them as well as our patients,” said COO Teresa Urquhart. “Many of the operating room staff and physicians were involved in the design process; it was a very collaborative effort.”

This collaboration also involves working hand-in-hand with contractor M.J. Harris Construction Services LLC, who will be building the 5,300 sq. ft. expansion of the existing surgical department, as well as performing 35,000 sq. ft. of renovations within the existing facility.

 

“Within the renovation, about 30,000 sq. ft. is considered ‘behind the red line’ – in critical areas like the post-anesthesia unit (PACU), ambulatory surgical area, and sterile processing areas. This is our greatest challenge,” said Project Manager Jimmy Courington.

 

“There are 13 phases of the project, many of which are contingent on completing the previous phase,” he added. “We need to have as minimal impact as possible so that the facility stays operational and is able to provide day-to-day patient care. It’s not like a clean construction project; we’ll be working in the middle of an operating facility at its highest census levels of the year.”

 

A national healthcare contractor, M.J. Harris has a lot of experience in this area, and has worked for Tenet properties since 2010. Courington estimates that approximately 98 percent of the firm’s volume on a year-to-year basis is healthcare-related.

 

“We’re excited about this opportunity and the complex nature of this project,” he added.