Transitional Care Unit christens Patient Tower
Dec. 7, 2007

The Transitional Care Unit, formerly 5J and 5K, was the first unit to move into the new Patient Tower on Nov. 27. The unit is now on 7A.

“It was challenging,” said Nursing Director Judy Matthews, BSN. “But I think I have the best staff in the hospital. We’re a close-knit group and we’ve been through moves before, so that helped. We also got incredible support from practically every department in the hospital.”

In the days prior to the move, staff met with patients and family members, who had a chance to view the room their relative would be moving to.

Transitional Care is a multidisciplinary unit that includes physical and occupational therapy, dietary, pharmacy, activities, social services and case managers.

New to St. John's with the tower is a new call light system that color codes what type of staff member (nurse, respiratory therapist, dietary, housekeeping) is the patient's room at a given time. Staff are trained on the new system, as well as on the new computers installed in the rooms.

A final run-through was made the day prior to the move that included all departments involved. Mock patients were run through the computer systems and sent to the lab, X-ray and discharged to simulate a typical patient experience, and to ensure all systems worked.

“The week before the move, the unit was like a beehive,” Matthews said. “We had staff being trained on the new call light system 24/7, we had tours for physicians and all kinds of prep work.”

The day of the move, patients and staff had an early breakfast. Patients' personal items were packed and labeled the evening before and by 9:45 that morning, the move was complete.

“We said we’d be done at 10, but we were here at 9:45. The move went very smoothly,” Matthews said. "The patients were so pleased. They were very happy with the process and love the new floor. We’ve had a lot of comments on the artwork, which is in every patient room as well as the hallways and activity room.”

Much of the artwork are photos submitted in an employee photo contest..

The Medical floor, currently located on 5H, is the next unit scheduled to move, on Dec. 11. It will be located on 7B, and will be the last move of 2007.