Vermont Business Magazine The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) White River Junction VA Medical Center is pleased to announce a successful day of surgeries in the new and improved operating room. After an unfortunate flooding that occurred June of 2018, the medical center was able to turn this event into something to look forward to; a state of the art operating room.
At approximately 4:55 PM on Friday, June 28, 2018, White River Junction VA Medical Center experienced a sprinkler head burst in the third floor mechanical space of Building 31, the main hospital building. When the sprinkler went off approximately five gallons per minute was coming into the surgical suite. The water was turned off within 45 minutes of the burst.
What should have been devastating was quickly redirected to what it could be. The Facilities Management Service proposed to move up the operating room’s planned renovations to conserve money and accelerate a needed upgrade. White River Junction VA’s leadership team jumped on board with the proposal and renovations began.
During a walk through on Friday, August 16th with Thomas Cobb, Mechanical Engineer, explained, “This room was designed with the patient and clinicians in mind. It is an ambidextrous room that can accommodate any surgery we perform.”
The operating room is now almost triple the size it used to be allowing more flexibility in surgery set-up. “Some surgeries require specific positioning of the patient or the surgeon needs the space to maneuver around efficiently,” explained William Sanborn, Registered Nurse in the Operating Suite. “Prior to this renovation we were limited to the types of surgeries we could perform because it was so small.”
All the equipment is now able to be moved 360 degrees around the operating table allowing for the perfect set-up and view. The new monitoring system allows multiple views on the many monitors strategically placed on movable carriers throughout the operating space. The views can be switched by a single point of contact upon request of the surgeons and multiple images can be seen rather than toggling between views. Residents will have a chance to learn more effectively as well in a space that allows them to easy view the procedure.
All the system processors are located outside the sterilized space allowing for clinical engineering to fix any issues that may arise during a procedure without having to stop the procedure for a repair.
Sanborn explained patient safety and access will now improve tremendously from the upgrades. “We have the best patients in the world so it makes the job awesome and exciting to give our best.”
The staff was ready early Monday morning for the kickoff procedure and White River Junction VA leadership is grateful for the dedicated staff that worked tirelessly to provide a state of the art space for Veterans to receive care.
Source: (WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, VT)—Veteran Affairs Medical Center 8.20.2019