8th floor Frederick staff provide tours during the Fredrick Building Open House.
Lancaster General Hospital’s new Frederick Building is designed to enhance the patient experience. The building’s first nursing unit, 8 Frederick, opened in April.
The six-story expansion occupies the hospital’s northeast corner, near Lime and Frederick streets. The new building’s opening begins LGH’s conversion to all private inpatient rooms, as well as relocation of some nursing units and implementation of a new patient aggregation model.
“It’s easy to understand the new building’s benefits for patients, which include less noise, and increased privacy and overall satisfaction,” said Christopher T. Addis, MD, chair of the LGH Department of Medicine.
Addis said input from physicians, nursing and other care team members was instrumental in planning the new building’s design. Private rooms in particular will be a “game changer” for both patients and the care team, he said.
“It can be challenging to have a delicate conversation with a patient and their family with another patient on the other side of the curtain,” he said. “In times of illness, I think people just want to have their own space.” While the hospital’s total bed count will remain the same, the conversion to private inpatient rooms also will improve the bed assignment process for patients awaiting an admission, Addis said. For example, patients won’t have to wait for an isolation or other specific room type to become available.
The new patient aggregation model also will increase opportunities to include more members of the care team in staff huddles and interdisciplinary rounding, which is shown to improve patient care, Addis said. Working more closely together as a team also boosts professional well-being.
In advance of the new building’s opening, LGH has upgraded communications technology. LGH Mobile, a secure iPhone-based app, will enable members of the care team to communicate and collaborate more quickly and efficiently.
Additional technology upgrades include an interactive patient education and communication system, OneView. The new in-room system will enable physicians to display a patient’s X-ray or lab results on a large screen, which will enhance engagement and shared decision-making.
“This is a very tangible way for patients to participate in their care, which helps them to feel more empowered,” Addis said. “It will lead to further questions and conversation, which to me is very energizing. It also breeds trust.”