Colorado-Real-Estate-Journal_381890

HEALTH CARE, SENIOR & LIFE SCIENCES I n 2019, the Good Samaritan Medical Center’s neonatal intensive care unit in Lafay- ette was experiencing an increase in newborn babies needing critical care, an antiquated approach to managing care, and a need for an environment of care that would provide a better expe- rience for both families and staff – a new space that could meet its primary program objective to be “conducive to excellent, interdisci- plinary, evidence-based care that keeps the neonate at the center of all we do and engages the family in a partnership during the entire NICU stay.” With demands for an enhancement of its services, an expansion of the existing space was required. GSMC had imple- mented advanced technology and already had the highest level of care being pro- vided by NICU spe- cialists, but to keep pace with growth and get to the level of operational and patient outcome excellence that it desired, it also needed to improve how the patient’s family connects into the care model. This resulted in the creation of a fam- ily centered unit promoting privacy, bonding and caring for infants in sin- gle-family rooms 24/7. In this envi- ronment, the par- ents can be more involved in the baby’s care with constant support from the expert NICU staff. It was also important to provide space for the caregivers to take care of themselves away from patient areas. From an operational perspective, supporting the work- flow in all aspects of care, including admission, discharge, procedures and family education, was another critical factor in the design. “We made sure that the patient was at the center of everything, and the nurses, physicians and neo- natal nurse practitioners were all involved in the design of the unit, which made us stretch to have real- ly exciting elements in the rooms that other NICUs don’t have,” said Tonya Chapin, director of the Baby Place. Please see Carr, Page 19 INSIDE Incorporate essential ingredients for a fulfilling community in which to age Flooring with safety, energy absorption, wellness properties is a natural selection Boomer approved Safer surfaces PAGE 17 PAGE 18 The demand for outpatient care facilities has been on the rise for years Real estate trends PAGE 4 January 2024 Steve Carr Principal, TreanorHL Raising the bar for newborn intensive care at Good Samaritan Medical Center Mike Hagan Principal, TreanorHL