As nurses and physicians at SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital helped patients move to the hospital's new building Sunday, not even the season's first snow could thwart their careful planning.
St. Mary's used 16 ambulances - some borrowed from Cole and Osage counties - to safely and smoothly transport more than 50 patients from the old location to the new one. Teams of nurses, physicians and hospital staff were stationed at both hospitals. Teams at the old location prepared patients for the move and those at the new location greeted them and helped them become acclimated to their new rooms.
Despite the snow freezing temperatures, the big move was completed without any major setbacks, said Tracy O'Rourke, vice president of strategy and marketing.
"We actually brought all the patients to our underground parking and transported them through a tunnel that leads into the garden level of our hospital," O'Rourke said. "That way, they were never out in the elements once they were on this campus, so that made it a bit nicer and easier to keep everything out of the cold."
The move began at 6 a.m., and all patients were moved to their new rooms by 11 a.m. The hospital transported two patients per 10 minutes, according to O'Rourke.
In addition, the emergency room at the new hospital opened for business at 6 a.m. - and immediately admitted its first patient.
While in the ambulances, patients were transported by EMS personnel. However, a few patients did need a nurse to travel with them, and one mother, who was in active labor, had a physician at her side during the ambulance ride.
Once patients arrived at the new hospital, they were greeted by blue-clad teams of hospital staff.
"One of our patients told me, "I had a welcoming crew when I came in!'" said Brittney Plassmeyer, R.N. in the progressive care unit. "There were four or five people in his room when he first got here, so he felt like there were plenty of people in there showing him where stuff was, how to use things."
Indeed, nurses helped patients with everything from making sure that all of their belongings had successfully been transported to checking for vital signs and providing medication.
Nurses agreed that the hospital and its resources would help them work more efficiently with patients.
"My favorite thing would probably be the room setup. We have a specific area for the nurse, a specific area for the patient, a specific area for the patient's family," said Dawn Hiller, another R.N. in the progressive care unit. "At the old hospital, you kind of felt like you were in the way, or making family feel like they were in the way when you went in there."
Moreover, the new hospital has numerous features contributing to greater privacy and ease of care for patients. Each patient receives his or her own room, and each of the 167 rooms has an attached bathroom. In addition, each room has a supply server that keeps supplies close to each patient rather than at a central location in the hospital.
Even the design of the hospital exudes a sense of privacy.
"It doesn't have a hospital feel. Everything is pretty modern," Plassmeyer said. "You can look down the hallway, and it's got that curve shape, so you don't see everyone who's there. It's a calm and relaxing, a better environment for healing, as opposed to a fast-paced place with everyone running around."
The new St. Mary's Hospital is now functional, but staff and patients still have a lot to learn about their new home.
"It's beautiful. The view's great," Hiller said. "The hospital as a whole is huge, and I have a lot of exploring to do."