March 6, 1997
Latest technology a feature of new Harborview facility
The latest patient-care technology is a key component of Harborview Medical Center’s new West Wing, which opened Feb. 3. Built to meet the needs of a Level I trauma center in the 21st century, the West Wing houses a new Emergency Department (ED), operating rooms, intensive care units (ICUs) and clinical laboratories. Technological highlights of the new West Wing include:
Radiology services for trauma patients located inside the core of the ED, allowing for diagnosis of patients with complex injuries within moments of their arrival. Radiology services within the ED include conventional-film X-ray, angiography, computed tomography (CT) scans, and a C-arm–an X-ray tube mounted on a mobile arm that rotates around the patient, sparing a seriously injured patient unnecessary movement.
Radiology services adjacent to the ED contain the framework of a completely digital department, resulting in improved distribution of superior images, and ease of access and storage. In addition to such diagnostic services as CT scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Radiology staff perform interventional procedures for patients with severe trauma or medical problems.
ICUs have radiolucent beds, allowing X-rays to be taken through the patient’s bed. Other specialized beds safely turn patients with severe spinal injuries or those with complex respiratory problems, while kinetic-therapy beds help patients by preventing pneumonia, deep-vein thrombosis and pressure sores. Patient charting in ICUs will be done by computers mounted on moveable carts to accommodate other medical equipment for individual patients. In addition to charting, computers allow staff bedside access to radiology and lab results, as well as access to MEDLINE information searches, e-mail. Improved computer hardware allows Harborview to move closer to the goal of a completely paperless electronic patient record.
ED radio room will enable staff to communicate in an emergency-operations center with maximum capabilities for everything from day-to-day medical problems to large-scale disasters. Formerly housed in cramped quarters, the new radio room has space for up to six staff to communicate via phone, computer, radio and fax with Puget Sound hospitals, police and fire departments to integrate and coordinate a rapid response to any emergency.
Clinical Laboratories, strategically located one floor above the operating rooms and directly below the ED and ICUs, will be linked to these key areas by a high-tech pneumatic tube system for rapid transport of samples. Clinical Lab staff performed 3.7 million studies in 1995.
