Good morning and welcome.
I'm Sandy Sharon, Senior Vice President and Area Manager
for Kaiser Permanente, Sacramento Medical Center.
And I'm Rob Azevedo, Physician-in-Chief and Chief of Staff here at the Sacramento Medical Center.
Today, Dr. Azevedo and I are very proud to be standing in front of
our new expanded Emergency Department.
And just like everything else in 2020,
this ribbon cutting ceremony is a little different than those we have held in the past.
Typically, we would all be gathered together in person
celebrating the latest addition to our medical center
and personally thanking the countless people that made this day possible.
But, instead we want to thank you for joining us virtually
and moist importantly, safely for our livestream celebration.
We especially what to virtually welcome those from our regional offices in Oakland,
elected officials from throughout Sacramento
and most importantly, our physicians and staff here at our Sacramento Medical Center
who starting this week, will begin providing high-quality compassionate care in our expanded Emergency Department.
We are also very proud to be holding this celebration a full two months ahead of schedule.
Healthcare construction and "ahead of schedule" doing typically go together,
but I think we can all agree that during these uncertain times,
it's more important than ever to be prepared.
We at Kaiser Permanente have demonstrated that in the past few months in many ways.
I'm especially proud of one of the ways we have demonstrated our preparedness
is by speeding up our timeline so the community can benefit from this resource.
I couldn't agree more, Sandy.
When COVID-19 hit, we were five months into building this new facility.
it became clear that we need to move our timeline up, given what was going on us.
So, our construction partners worked with our clinical teams
and really created miracles to get this done, as Sandy said, two months ahead of schedule.
We want to also thank both local and state officials
around licensing and accreditation, etc., for helping us move things forward quickly.
As a result, we have a state-of-the-art, beautiful...
expanded Emergency Room Department available to meet the demands
for our patients for months and years to come.
We're going to take you on a tour in just a few moments,
but first, let me give you a few of the highlights.
The facility itself is right at about 11,700 square feet.
Truly a state-of-the-art Emergency Department.
In includes 23 emergency beds in private rooms,
bringing our total to 59 beds.
We also have a 2,400 square-foot walkway from the current Emergency Department to the new Emergency Department.
In reality, it almost doubles the space we have.
Certainly something we have needed for a long time.
We are one of the busiest Emergency Departments in Northern California.
Last year, we saw just about 115,000 patients through this emergency room.
A little bit more about the rooms themselves.
Each room has a sliding door for privacy.
There are specific rooms dedicated for children,
for people who may an infectious process
and even for people who might have special needs.
The expansion itself has three separate nursing stations.
And of course, each of the nursing stations are the most up-to-date and technically enabled.
It really allows the nurses to also have line-of-sight with their patients as they continue to care for them.
Also on the tour, you're going to see amazing artwork throughout.
This was selected to create an environment of healing and calmness.
So, none of this could obviously have be possible without the help dedication of
some incredible people in the Emergency Department.
Their expertise and guidance has really insured that this expansion was built to meet our patient's medical needs,
as well as their emotional needs.
Truly, they are the experts on caring for people in a stressful circumstance.
And they can provide this care with skill and compassion.
They are the heart and soul of our Emergency Department and we're very proud of the work they do every day.
While there are too many people to thank in general, because there are a lot of people who help this come to fruition,
I want to call out just a few people specifically.
First is Dr. Rick Vitangcol. Rick is one of our APICs
and he oversees the Emergency Department with Hillary Mitchell
who is one of our Associate Medical Group Administrators.
And the two of them worked closely with the ED Department Leadership,
Dr, Vinh Le, Chief of our Emergency Department and Brandie Cherry, who is our Director.
The four of them have been working together to lead this effort.
Of course, we want to thank the TPMG Regional Leadership for all their support you've shown throughout this process.
Sandy.
Thanks, Dr. Azevedo.
I too would like to recognize a few from our Northern California Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan
and thank them for their support.
These include Tom Hanenburg, Interim Regional President,
Michelle Gaskill-Hames, Senior Vice President, Hospital and Health Plan Operations,
Kevin Hart, Senior Vice President, Strategic Development and Technology,
Mark Tortorich, Vice President of Service Delivery,
and our entire Local/National Facility Services, Capital Projects Team
headed up by their manager, Kjerstin Damianos.
I would also want to thank our General Contractor, Swinerton and our Architect, the firm of Hibser Yamauchi, who both did an outstanding job.
Through their work on this project, they and many others
have contributed to the long legacy of high quality, compassionate care
delivered here at our Sacramento Medical Center.
From the time we started care at this facility,
55 years ago, to today,
our commitment to improving the health of our members and the communities we serve, has never wavered.
Today, our Emergency Department expansion has added to our Medical Center
that is already home to the largest and most comprehensive neuroscience center in the region,
a Comprehensive Cancer Center and a Joint Commission Designated Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center.
The care we provide here has become well-known for outstanding outcomes for our patients
and we could not be prouder to add this new expansion to our Sacramento Medical Center and our community.
Thanks, Sandy. We hope that you will spend a few more minutes with us,
to go on a tour of this incredible facility.
We'll start that in just a moment.
Along the way, you're going to meet some of the people
who have really been involved in bring this to fruition.
and really helping us look at how we better care for our patients in this new facility.
We are immensely proud of our physicians and staff
who strive each day to provide the best care for our members.
Every patient. Every time.
We hope you enjoy the tour and we want to thank you for joining us this morning.
So, now please celebrate with us as Dr. Azevedo and I cut the ribbon
on our new expanded Emergency Department at our Sacramento Medical Center.
Alright!
♪♪ Cheerful Music ♪♪
Alright, Rob! Let's have a countdown!
Okay!
Three, Two, One!
Okay, Sandy. I got the least sharp scissors (Laughing)
I think you did!
Maybe I can borrow yours.
There we go!
Alright!
Come on in!
♪♪ Cheerful Music ♪♪
Wow! We're in our beautiful, new Emergency Department in one of the hallways.
Here to talk with us is Doctor, Rick Vitangcol, one of our Assistant Physician-in-Chiefs.
How are you doing, Dr. Vitangcol?
Hello, Dr. Azevedo. I'm good.
A beautiful space. Can you tell us a little about it?
We're super excited to open up the Emergency Room Expansion.
We're getting 23 new private treatment bays,
which will expand our overall footprint to double capacity.
We will actually have 59 treatment bays.
We'll be able to take care of patients of all ages.
Any type of emergency care they might need in our community.
We're here to provide
high quality service and high quality care
not only to treat their physical needs,
but their emotional needs as well.
We worked really hard to open this expansion two month early,
because, quite frankly, we have our winter coming
and we need to be prepared.
Great! Well, it certainly is beautiful.
Thanks Rich, and I'm going to turn it over to Sandy
who's outside one of our procedure rooms.
Thanks Rob! I'm here with Dr. Vinh Le,
our Chief of the Emergency Department
in one of our treatment rooms.
Dr. Le, all of us fear having a medical emergency.
So, coming to the Emergency Room is not something we all want to do.
Can you share with us own this new environment effects the way our patients feel
about coming to the Emergency Department?
Absolutely.
If you look around here,
we have 23 new beds,
with sliding doors.
We will give our patients the isolation and privacy they deserve.
Out in the hallway, we have more space
so we can actually include family members
and sicker patients care.
At the same time, we can observe social distancing.
So, it's an amazing space. It's quiet.
Communication will be better among staff and physicians.
Also, it will be a better place for patients to start the healing process.
So, it sounds like it's going to be a better place for our patients and
yourself as an experienced ED Doc.
How do you think this environment is going to affect your practice?
Well, I've been in this ED for more than a decade.
We pride ourselves of efficiency and quality, despite not having enough space.
This space will allow us to focus more on the patient care experience.
This is where patient care begins for most patients.
They come to the ED when they're sick. The acute care process begins here.
Some will actually be admitted to the hospital
and the healing process begins here as well.
And their overall care experience will be shaped
by how they perceive their care in the Emergency Room initially.
So, this will add so much to their care experience.
Thank you, Dr. Le.
Now, let's go back to Dr. Azevedo who's at the Nursing Station.
Thanks, Sandy!
Now I'm here with Hillary Mitchell, one of our Associate Medical Group Administrators.
Hillary, you have a lot of experience working in the ED,
as well as overseeing it.
Tell me what this means for patient's care.
As you can imagine, in an emergency department setting,
one of the most important things is to collaborate and work together.
I'm here at one of the Nurse Stations which provides the care team the ability to
oversee and full line of sight of their patients and managing their care.
It provides that patient-nurse, patient-provider connection
that's so important for their experience.
We also have several touch points here in the expansion
where providers and nurses can actually pull up their medical record for their patient
while maintaining line-of-site
and stay connected,
and then continue with their plan of care.
One of other opportunities we have here in the extension
is a physician work room,
which allows our physicians to collaborate with each other,
have discussions with their peers.
As well as engage with consultants.
who may come in to provide care to these patients
in anticipation of the patient being admitted to the hospital,
or consultation for treatment after their treatment here in the ED.
Thanks great, Hillary!
Such amazing innovation and collaboration and such a beautiful space. Thank you.
SO, I'm going to turn it back over to you, Sandy
to share something special with us.
Thanks right, Rob!
I'm here with Brandie Cherry, who is our Emergency Department Director
She's played a large role in the design of the expansion.
Down to selecting the artwork.
We're standing in front of this beautiful mural, and...
Brandi, can you share with us what went into your thought process
for the selection of the art for this space?
Yes. Thank you, Sandy.
We're super excited to bring artwork to the Sacramento Emergency Department.
We selected things that would bring peace and calm to our patients.
Things like rolling hills,
flowing water,
and expansive farmland.
that are all recognizable as the Sacramento area.
The other thing is this beautiful mural
that was created by a local artist, Maren Conrad.
It stands 17 feet wide and 8 feet tall.
It has a lot of local features such as the bridge
that signifies the Sacramento area.
We also wanted to be in farm to fork and things that were healthy,
and healthy activities.
The other feature is this beautiful butterfly that sits down in the corner of the mural.
Children can stand in front of it.
It's interactive and they can sprout their wings.
Also, within the complex itself,
we have two treatment rooms
that are specific to pediatrics.
We used other features of art that would
that would promote some well being by offering some
whimsical features and bright colors.
Another special room in the ED expansion
Is the Isolation Room.
That room is a negative flow room.
And it really provides us the best opportunity to provide care to patients
that are infectious or potentially infectious.
There's an anti room that is adjacent to that space
Nurses can go in and safely monitor the patient
as well as provide care.
and insure the highest level of safety for all people providing care,
Especially during the COVID pandemic.
Another great thing is the ability to bring in our own.
I understand that we have a special guest star who's going to join us. James?
Hi!
I understand that two of your art pieces where selected to be displayed in the Emergency Department.
Can you share a little about those two pieces of work you did,
how you created them, and why you chose them to be in the ED?
The two pieces that I have,
one is a black and white picture of the Tower Theatre that's in the mural.
I feel honored to contribute such an iconic piece of Sacramento history to this project.
The other piece is a very big tree from Easter Island.
I was traveling and exploring the island, and as I was driving
this big tree came out of nowhere.
It had it's own energy. It's massive and majestic.
I wanted to capture that sense of beauty and awe and share it with the Emergency Department.
James, we wanted to thank you for sharing your artwork with all of our members and staff
and creating that same sense of calm that you felt underneath that tree.
And Brandi, thank you so much for the design of this space and selection of artwork.
You've created something wonderful for our members and for our staff.
Thank you very much.
And now, back to you, Rob!
Thank you, Sandy!
We also want to thank you today for joining us in our beautiful new Emergency Department expansion.
We've been in this community for 55 years
and this is just another example of how we care for our members
and the community that we serve.
We hope you enjoyed the tour today.
And remember, if you have an emergency, we're here for you.
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