Progress

July 3, 2009

Geisinger will open ICU next week

New ICU has 25 beds and is three times the size of the current unit.

By Andrew M. Seder aseder@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer
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PLAINS TWP. – The $11.5 million Intensive Care Unit at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center opens next week, offering a larger, high-tech environment for staff and patients.

It’s the latest project on the campus that has included more than $86 million in construction during the past year.

The finishing touches are being done throughout the weekend, and staff will begin moving patients from the current ICU to the new unit on Tuesday, said Barbara Mullay, a registered nurse and operations manager of the ICU.

Located on the fourth floor of the Critical Care Building, the new 24,000-square-foot ICU has 25 beds – 12 more than the current ICU – and is three times the size of the current ICU. That was so crowded that Mullay’s office was turned into an additional patient room.

Dr. Steven Pierdon, chief medical officer for Geisinger Northeast, said a new ICU had been on the table but wasn’t slated to be built for another year or two. But a 20-percent increase in total discharges over the past few years sped up the process. Work on the unit began in January.

The old ICU will be turned into a progressive care unit, which the hospital does not currently have.

Pierdon said the project is part of a continuing expansion effort the past year at the campus. The price tag has been $86.5 million to date. This includes the critical care center, with upgraded emergency and operating rooms, a helipad and the new ICU. It also includes the $15 million Henry Cancer Center.

Another project, a 35-bed inpatient unit on the fifth floor of the Critical Care Building, could get under way in the next year.

In addition to a waiting room in the new ICU, there’s also a 1,200-square-foot “serenity room” for family members to relax and unwind in private.

Overlooking the Wyoming Valley, with large windows and murals on the wall painted by local artist Leigh Pawling, Lissa Bryan-Smith, chief administrative officer for Geisinger Regional Ambulatory Campus, said the room will be used for family members and staff when they need to just get away for a bit but not have to leave the unit.

Andrew M. Seder, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 570-829-7269.

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