Expanded and Inspired, ICU Team ‘Reaching to Do More’
COVER STORY
They did not get to celebrate in the way they had hoped – thanking supporters with a ribbon cutting and open house – and instead got right to work. For the team in F.F. Thompson Hospital’s new intensive care unit, however, the timing of its opening could not have been better.
The new 12-bed unit opened in March, just as the region was treating its first COVID-19 patients and readying for a potential surge, with contingency plans and partnerships among hospitals throughout the region.
Designed by LaBella Associates, the Sands-Constellation Intensive Care Unit was erected by The Pike Company, Inc., beginning in January 2019. It was part of a larger expansion, which also includes the spacious Marilyn Sands Outpatient Clinic for community members with pulmonary, gastroenterology, and pain management needs.
Growing from seven ICU beds to 12 enabled Thompson to have full-time coverage from physicians specially trained in the care and management of critical care patients. The larger, highly experienced team also includes more respiratory therapists, critical care nurses and advanced practice providers (physician assistants and nurse practitioners), supporting the level of care overall, and particularly in the overnight.
In addition, the hospital will now send fewer patients to Rochester due to limited capacity, keeping an additional 250 to 330 critically ill patients close to home annually.
The $11.9 million capital expansion was entirely community funded, eliminating the need to borrow. UR Medicine Thompson Health President/CEO Michael F. Stapleton, Jr. noted that when the capital campaign began in 2017, it was projected that the community would, at best, contribute $7.5 million of the cost.
“We are forever grateful to our community for fully funding this project,” he said.
With the hospital’s old, seven-bed unit designated as a dedicated unit for hospitalized community members who were awaiting test results for COVID-19, the new ICU was soon near capacity with patients who needed critical care for a variety of reasons.
And just a month after opening, the new ICU officially became part of the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Transfer Center, which is utilized by hospitals across the Finger Lakes, central New York and the Southern Tier.
This means that when beds are available, Thompson is now accepting ICU transfers from these other hospitals via emergency medical services, including Mercy Flight Central. “It has brought a true sense of pride to our team and inspires us to keep reaching to do more,” said Dr. Justin Weis, the medical director of both the ICU and Respiratory Medicine at Thompson.
Joining the URMC Transfer Center was an objective set by the hospital in 2019, as part of an internal quality initiative. The first step was to establish the process by June of this year, but given the pandemic, the Thompson team expedited cooperative plans with the transfer center, meeting the goal two months ahead of schedule.
“A major aim of our ICU expansion project was to provide additional critical care services to our region, allowing area residents to receive advanced care here at Thompson. For many of our local residents, traveling to Rochester or Syracuse to visit a loved one creates transportation, financial and emotional hardships,” said ICU Nursing Director Mary Kate Corey. “Critical care at Thompson means patients are closer to home, closer to family/ caregivers and the stress of adding a long drive to an urban/regional center is alleviated.”