From left: Brian Meade, PE, Senior Project Manager, Planning Design and Construction; Leah Borenstein, RN, MPA, Director, Perioperative Services; and Evan L. Flatow, MD.
As the Mount Sinai Health System evolves to meet New Yorkers’ changing health care needs, Mount Sinai West is completing Phase One of a three-year plan that will vastly expand its surgical capabilities. The initiative, which began in November 2016, will enable an increase in the types and number of complex elective surgical procedures performed at the hospital, especially in the areas of Orthopedics, Neurosurgery, and Head and Neck Cancer.
The project is a key part of the transformation currently under way at the seven hospital campuses across the Health System—all efforts aimed at strengthening Mount Sinai’s ability to better serve patients.
“A large portion of Orthopedics, including hand, shoulder, and elbow surgery, along with some joint replacement and spine surgery, have already moved here from other Health System hospitals, laying the groundwork for making Mount Sinai West a center of excellence for Orthopedics,” says Evan L. Flatow, MD, President, Mount Sinai West. “Next year, we will be adding Head and Neck Cancer, as well as a movement disorders neurosurgical program, which will join the epilepsy and neuroendovascular programs here to make a Neuroscience center of excellence.”
Phase One includes a new 600-square-foot operating room and the expansion of another, the addition of three new post-anesthesia care (PACU) beds, and a completely renovated surgical reception and family waiting area, all scheduled to open in early August. The project also includes the renovation of the West 59th Street hospital entrance and lobby, and upgraded elevators to the surgical reception area.
The new reception area will streamline the surgical check-in process. It includes a bright and spacious waiting area with twice the seating capacity of the previous space, two laptop stations, two big-screen televisions, a quiet area, and two restrooms. Comfortable new seats come with individual electrical outlets for convenient phone charging. Nearby, a new consultation room enables surgeons to meet privately with a patient’s family.
“Our focus is to improve the overall patient experience,” says Leah Borenstein, RN, MPA, Director, Perioperative Services, Mount Sinai West and Mount Sinai St. Luke’s. “This really is a show stopper,” she says of the new reception and family waiting area. According to Brian Meade, PE, Senior Project Manager, Planning, Design and Construction, Mount Sinai Health System, Phase Two is scheduled for completion next March, and will include additional operating rooms, a new 3.0 T MRI, and new staff lounges.
Phase Three will add 18 private prep and recovery rooms, and is expected to be ready in October 2018. Phase Four, scheduled for completion in June 2019, will include the addition of four operating rooms and the activation of the new MRI as an intraoperative MRI, which will enable precision neurosurgical imaging in real time during surgery.
Mr. Meade says their goal is to complete the renovation for December 2019, ultimately adding six operating rooms—bringing the total to 22—and doubling the number of PACU beds to 32. Surgical support facilities for staff, upgrades to engineering systems, and an enhanced and expanded endoscopy suite are also part of the overall plan.
“Starting with convenient valet parking and the reception and family waiting area, we are designing our expansion in a patient-centered way,” says Dr. Flatow, “trying to improve the experience for patients and families going through what can be a stressful time.”