08 Jan GE Medical Enables Digital Heart Hospital
Waukesha, Wis. – GE Medical Systems and University Community Health, (UCH) system, a not for profit community health network based in Tampa, Florida have announced an agreement to build one of the nations most advanced heart hospitals. GE Medical Systems will be the technology provider for UCH’s new cardiovascular hospital, designed to deliver cardiovascular care in the Southeast using advanced digital technology, when it opens in the spring of 2005.
The new $40 million, 120,000 square-foot state-of-the art cardiovascular healthcare facility will be a paperless, filmless and wireless environment. The new hospital will be named the Pepin Heart Hospital and Research Institute and be located on the UCH Campus. Construction is scheduled to begin this month.
GE’s Centricity products will provide the hospital with a digital patient record management as well as a computerized physician order entry system(CPOE) that allows clinicians to digitally order medications, which will reduce medical errors and improve patient safety.
The facility will feature advanced diagnostic and imaging technologies from GE, such as the Innova, an all-digital cardiovascular imaging system, the all-digital Vivid 7 Cardiovascular Ultrasound system, and Centricity Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS), which allows clinicians to manage digital patient images. GE will provide the Pepin Heart Hospital with several Dash patient monitors, the MUSE ECG management system, and the Mac-Lab* hemodynamic monitoring system.
“We are at a defining moment in healthcare. There is currently no resource of this scale in the Southeast, and only a few in the world, that can provide the patient care, service, innovation and capacity that we envision for the Pepin Heart Hospital and Research Institute,” said Norm Stein, president of University Community Health.
“We are contracting with a company that shares our vision to fundamentally change the way healthcare is delivered. Our objective is to create a facility that focuses on the patient and offers clinicians an environment where they can deliver the best patient care available today,” added Stein.
In addition to state-of-the art technology, the hospital will also feature an expanded research program that will build on the collaborative efforts already in place with the National Institutes of Health, Duke University’s Clinical Research Facility, the Cleveland Clinic, Washington Hospital Center, Mayo Clinic and other world-renown research facilities. This research has enabled the Pepin Heart & Vascular Institute to introduce lifesaving procedural and technological breakthroughs long before they became available in most other hospitals.
“The commitment of GE Medical Systems to develop a ‘showcase’ facility for their technology is a huge plus for our state and our community,” said Governor Jeb Bush.
The new Pepin Heart Hospital will include a 52-bed pre/post cardiac unit, 16 cardiovascular critical care beds, a 20-bed cardiac surgery recovery unit, 48 progressive care beds, five surgical suites, ten cardiac catheterization/invasive procedure labs with additional diagnostic equipment, and a dedicated auditorium to be used for education and training presentations
“The Pepin Heart Hospital and Research Institute will become a model for a new generation of cardiovascular care in the Southeast and across the nation,” said Dow Wilson, president and CEO, GE Medical Systems Information Technologies.
“UCH is a leading pioneer in the digital transformation of health care and we’re looking forward to embarking on this exciting joint initiative. Together, we will work to enhance the quality of patient care through research-based care, while further advancing GE’s technologies,” added Wilson.
In addition, a large-scale auditorium will host clinical research and education seminars and symposiums for clinicians throughout the region.
“The facility will be another example of UCH’s commitment to provide high quality health care services to this community,” said Robert Anderson, Chairman of the Board for University Community Health. ))