Surgical Precision
With Bryn Mawr Hospital’s new Patient Pavilion, surgical patients discover a reimagined campus designed to enhance every aspect of their care.
by Leigh Stuart

 
While Bryn Mawr Hospital has built its reputation as a pillar of the community over the past 125 years, it’s hardly content resting on its laurels. As the field of medicine and patients’ needs have evolved, Bryn Mawr Hospital has transformed, too. 
 
As evidence, look no further than the towering eight-story building known as the Patient Pavilion, which opened to patients this month. The result of a years-long, multimillion-dollar “modernization” project that includes new maternity, NICU and critical care units, the completely reimagined campus is designed to enhance the experience for every person who walks through its doors, including surgical patients and their families. 
 
At its core, the Patient Pavilion enables Bryn Mawr Hospital to better serve patients in need of surgical intervention across a wide spectrum of specialties, including spine, orthopedics, urology, gynecology, oncology, and neurosurgery. For starters, surgeons will have access to larger and more technologically advanced operating rooms, according to Mark F. Kurd, M.D., one of Bryn Mawr Hospital’s orthopedic spine surgeons.
 
“From a patient perspective, everything is updated using the latest technology,” Dr. Kurd says. “This new facility provided an opportunity to look at protocols and systems to make sure that everything is evidence-based with the most advanced equipment for minimally invasive techniques. We are on the forefront of research and technology, and we’ve done things looking at the whole system to optimize patient experience.”
 
Bryn Mawr Hospital left no stone unturned in creating the new surgical facilities, equipped with proven technology designed to add greater predictability to surgical outcomes. Consider: 
 
* The new operating rooms (ORs) each measure as much as 700 square feet, compared with the previous 360-square-foot ORs.
 
* Minimally invasive preoperative imaging technology enables surgeons to better visualize the area in which they will be operating well before the surgeon picks up a scalpel.  
 
* The newly designed airflow system of every operating room brings through sterile air to help lower the risk of infection. 
 
* Advanced robotics add even greater precision for the most delicate of surgeries. 

Community of Care
Overall, the new facility is “more patient-centric in every single way,” says David Rose, M.D., the chief of surgery at Bryn Mawr Hospital. While any health care facility could benefit from having more advanced technology, he suggests what matters more is using the technology to create reproducible results that clearly enhance the patient experience.
 
“Through the years, this hospital has given the community what it wants, and what it deserves: excellent, high-quality health care that is convenient and close to home,” he says. “Our new Patient Pavilion advances that experience one step further, from mapping the patient’s journey and expectations to aligning with the clinical expertise and talented surgeons and care team. We now have much more efficient traffic-flow patterns, the latest video equipment, and robotics. And there is abundant natural light to help everyone feel better: patients, families, and employees.” 
 
The improvements apply to all aspects of the surgical process, meaning before, during, and after a patient’s procedure. Before surgery, the hospital provides an atmosphere of comfort for families with a new café, Wi-Fi, well-lit areas for privacy, and a secure patient monitor tracking to know where a loved one is in the various stages of an operation. Patients are well cared for in a calming and comfortable environment, with offerings such as aromatherapy to help patients reduce stress and anxiety prior to surgery. 
 
Once the surgery is complete, patients recover under the careful watch of the hospital’s post-anesthesia team, which is specifically trained to care for surgical patients, manage their pain, and watch for side effects throughout the process. For inpatient surgeries, the patient will return to the comfort of their inpatient hospital room, where they can meet with family members. For same-day outpatient surgeries, patients will leave the hospital through a private exit with their loved ones. 
 
“Years ago, medicine focused on treating just the illness,” Dr. Rose says. “This didn’t take into account other health factors, like recovery, return to work, family, and loved ones. Now we treat illness in a more holistic way. We focus on getting a patient back to being well. When people believe they can get well, they are motivated, and more likely to get well quickly, so we made a facility designed to help them along the way.”

Committed to Constant Improvement
Dr. Rose says an emphasis on teamwork is vital, as is fostering an environment in which every team member feels valued as a vital contributor to a patient’s wellness goals. Likewise, patient education is a core aspect of the hospital’s holistic approach to care.
 
“We do a lot of educating on the front end,” Dr. Rose says. “Postoperatively, we carefully assess patients’ needs. If they require a visiting nurse or a physical therapist, we arrange that before they leave. The better  job we do  educating  patients before they come into the hospital and while they’re in the hospital, and the better job we do of including family and loved ones, the more likely we are to eliminate patients’ fears and achieve  better outcomes.” 
 
In his 26 years at Bryn Mawr Hospital, Dr. Rose has seen a lot of changes. He’s incredibly excited by the hospital’s recent transformation. He also says the community has good reason to share in his enthusiasm. 
 
“How we provide care is changing,” Dr. Rose says. “It’s not about new bricks and mortar, and it’s not about new equipment and technology. It’s about the patient. With the patient at the center, we can combine strategic leaders, highly educated and experienced nurses, well-trained surgeons, team-oriented patient care techs, detail-oriented registration teams, compassionate environmental-service workers, friendly valet staff, and knowledgeable volunteers. 
 
“All of us are part of this change and focus on wellness,” he continues. “We’re all working together to make sure that’s what happens.”

For more information, visit Mainlinehealth.org/Pavilion. 

Photograph courtesy of Bryn Mawr Hospital
Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Life magazine, February 2019.  
 
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