Construction, Renovation Projects Complement Physician Recruitment Efforts and Other Investments
Dedicated to meeting Southwest Oklahoma’s evolving – and growing – health care needs, this summer, Southwestern Medical Center has embarked on significant expansion of the facility and existing services, as well as ongoing investment in physician recruitment and new equipment.
The most visible sign of progress is a multi-million dollar facility expansion and upgrade launched in July. Phase One of the plan is highlighted by the expansion of the operating room and same-day surgery areas as well as the intensive care unit. This phase addresses the Lawton/Fort Sill community’s growing need for surgical services and is expected to be completed in August 2008. The $6 million project is highlighted by the following improvements:
* The OR will, among other things, grow by two suites with the ability to handle orthopedic and neurosurgical procedures.
* Same-day surgery will be expanded and its eight rooms will have more privacy and confidentiality.
* The recovery room will double in size to 10 bays.
* The surgery area will be renovated to allow for a family consult/waiting room, staff office, staging cubicles and expanded endoscopy room facilities.
Investing in new physicians and top-notch equipment
Phase Two of Southwestern’s construction work includes the building of a second medical office building on the northwest portion of the hospital’s campus. Work on the 30,000-square-foot building will start this fall with a total budget of about $9 million and will serve the growing number of physicians being recruited by CEO Jon O’Shaughnessy and his team.
Since May, eight physicians in a broad range of specialties have been recruited to help Southwestern meet the rising demand for their services. Recently recruited physicians range from child and geriatric psychiatrists, family practice, general surgeons, infectious disease and neurology. These recruitment efforts are designed to improve access to quality, community-based healthcare services, which will continue to grow with the pending military and associated civilian population increases.
Southwestern, which is owned by Tennessee-based Capella Healthcare, also is expanding or upgrading other services. Officials hosted a grand opening for an expanded and relocated Sleep Services unit earlier this summer and will this fall install a state-of-the-art Image Guided Radiation Treatment unit in the hospital’s Cancer Treatment Center.
Image Guided Radiation Therapy allows physicians to more precisely target tumors with radiation beams while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. This reduces the chance for errors in targeting tumors and lets physicians increase doses with more certainty of tumors’ location.
Building on patients’ high satisfaction scores
Southwestern Medical Center’s expansion push comes after the hospital won a HealthStream Research Excellence through Insight Award for overall patient satisfaction for outpatient services.
This prestigious national awards program recognizes hospitals that excel in their ability to gain insight into their patients, employees, physicians, and community through research and to use that information to build excellence within their organization. Southwestern was one of just five hospitals to win an award in its category.
“We are excited to have received this award and we strive to have the best patient satisfaction results for all the services we offer,” said O’Shaughnessy. “Our staff, volunteers and physicians are the people who make our patient treatment a positive experience.”
The HealthStream Research Excellence through Insight awards are based on national databases built by The Jackson Organization and Data Management & Research. HealthStream Research represents more than 1,100 healthcare facilities. Southwestern was one of two Capella hospitals to be recognized by the group this year: Capital Medical Center in Olympia, Wash., won an award for its overall inpatient satisfaction levels.
About Southwestern Medical Center
Southwestern Medical Center is a 199-bed hospital serving Comanche County and Southwest Oklahoma. Accredited by the Joint Commission and a winner of a 2006 HealthStream Research Excellence through Insight Award, Southwestern in 2007 launched expansion projects that will upgrade and expand its operating room facilities, surgery suites and intensive care unit. The hospital also is adding a medical office building. For more information, please visit www.swmconline.com.
About Capella Healthcare
Capella Healthcare partners with communities to build strong local healthcare systems. Capella’s leadership team has more than 200 years of combined experience and has overseen $2.5 billion in hospital construction projects. With the financial backing of GTCR Golder Rauner, the company has access to significant resources for the expansion and improvement of its hospitals and the services they provide. Capella operates five hospitals across the nation. For more information, please visit www.capellahealth.com.