As the population of the Treasure
Valley in Idaho continues to grow,
the demand for more advanced
healthcare capabilities also grows.
St Alphonsus Regional Medical Center
in Boise is responding to that need
with the first ever neurosurgical
trauma at ICU or ICU in the state.
I met up with Doctor Andre Chuka.
He's a neurosurgeon at Saint
Alphonsus to learn more.
Andre, it is so good to see
you thank you for joining us.
I want to talk to you about the
new ICU at Saint Alphonsus.
Help us understand what type of
patients will be cared for there.
As you is branded as neuro
and surgical trauma ICU,
we casually refer to it as nest,
but it is really going to be sub specialized
for patients with neurological problems.
So the sickest of the sick sick
in neurological problems or trauma
patients or surgical patients.
So those are patients.
If you think of bad car accidents and
patients with severe head injuries,
they'll be coming to us.
Any patients with strokes or any.
Neurological injury.
When I say injury don't necessarily mean.
A bad or baseball bat to the
head or a car accident.
We mean any damage to the brain
and that can come from medical
diseases from surgical diseases
and from trauma as well.
OK, and then so this nest I love.
I love the term.
By the way, is this unique?
Then is this the only you know
ICU of its kind in the state?
Other neuro ICU in the state.
There's actually no other
trauma ICU in the state,
so we are creating something that's
going to be highly subspecialized.
It is more common in academic
centers and as you know there
are no really academic medical
centers in the state of Idaho,
so that's why we felt the need with
the patient population increasing in
the valley and we're seeing increasing
number of patients with those problems.
We really felt like we should
step up the game.
And really provide the best care possible.
Well, it's fantastic and tells who's
going to be working in these new ICU.
You already mentioned some specialization,
so I imagine that there's
going to be physicians and care
providers with a lot of that.
A lot of specialization.
Correct, there are really 2 aspects to it.
The neurological aspect so neurocritical
care is actually a specialty,
so we are bringing Neuro Intensivists
who are physicians who specialized
but they can come from neurology or
anesthesia when they spend fellowship
time training in neurocritical care
and they end up treating patients with
neurological injuries and so this
will be fully staffed by fellowship.
Trained neuro Intensivists and
then on the surgical and trauma.
Side of things.
We actually have a full spectrum of
trauma surgeons who also have critical
care boards and will be actually taking
care of all of those patients in
collaboration within your intensivists
help the viewer understand
what's the benefit to patients
and to the Community as a whole.
When it comes to being able to
provide care like this here in Idaho.
So Umm, that's even goes
back to medical studies.
We've shown that actually having
a neurocritical care specialist
improves outcomes just in
general patients with strokes,
patients with head injuries just do
better if they're taken care of by
people who specialize in that aspect.
And that is the that is the key
benefit the patients formerly May
might have been flown to academic
centers outside of our state,
but they didn't have to.
They they can stay here.
And really.
Rest assured that they're
getting the best possible hair
I can imagine too.
Being able to have that care in
state opposed to having to go out of
state provides a lot of benefits to
patients and the fact that they don't
have to worry about out-of-state housing.
They get to be in a community
that they're familiar with.
They get to be near those that they
love and that they need to be around.
We've all heard, you know,
there's there's power
and healing and medicine,
but there's also power and healing
in relationships and and being
able to be around that positive
energy of your family.
I can just imagine helps with a positive
outcome or more of a positive outcome.
For those patients,
when they're able to stay home.
Beautifully said, yeah,
I couldn't agree more.
You know to me family at
bedside with their loved one
makes a huge difference.
Yes, well, Andre. Thank you so much.
Greatly appreciate your time.
We are so excited and so thankful and
grateful to have an ICU like this.
Available in Idaho to continue to improve
the outcomes for so many of our people.