World-class Care For Kentuckians, By Kentuckians

Lexington, Ky. (July 19, 2010) - On July 14, the University of Kentucky reaffirmed its commitment to the citizens of the Commonwealth by opening the doors to the state-of-the-art UK Chandler Emergency Department. The emergency department is part of the first phase of UK HealthCare's $760 million expansion project. In 2011, the first two floors of a new 12-story patient care facility also will be completed.

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UK President Lee T. Todd, Jr. heralded the completion of the new emergency department as an important marker of progress in the university's mission to serve the Commonwealth.

"We should all be very proud, and find great peace of mind, in having one of the world's most advanced emergency care centers here in the Bluegrass," Todd said. "We see this as a milestone, as our new hospital takes shape and we continue to advance health care for Kentucky and beyond."

Read more about the opening of the emergency department by clicking here.

Employees Important in Design of Hospital

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Building a new UK Emergency Department presents the chance to improve the patient experience.

From rooms with four walls and a door that replace traditional curtains to a separate entrance, waiting and treatment area for children in the Makenna David Pediatric Emergency Center, these improvements are visible the moment patients and visitors walk through the doors.

Other improvements that may be less visible--but are just as important--are the ways the Emergency Department's design enhances how clinicians work behind the scenes to provide patient care. 

As an overnight charge nurse, Jeff Ritzler serves as a sort of "air traffic controller" for the emergency department. During the 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift, he makes sure staff have necessary resources, takes urgent calls about trauma patient arrivals, and does rounds to ensure patients are having a satisfactory experience. 

The hospital design team called upon the expertise of employees like Ritzler, who has worked in the emergency department for nine years. He visited other hospitals known to have well-designed emergency departments and sought feedback from his colleagues.

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Early in the process employees toured a mock emergency department, set up to scale on the football field in UK's Nutter Field House. Eventually, mock-up rooms were constructed to allow clinicians to test and evaluate certain types of equipment and supplies to determine the best resources.

"Rather than being designed by people who have never stepped foot in the emergency department, UK was adamant about getting staff response to the equipment and designs," Ritzler said. "In the emergency department, you must have everything for every possible type of patient and scenario, which makes it more difficult to design. However, we've made it a point to make sure we have more flexibility in the new facility to improve patient care."

The emergency department employees' "team" mentality and workplace environment influenced their ideas. For instance, most space is not dedicated to certain staff, rather there are "work stations" that better enable collaboration.

"If you don't work as a team in the emergency department, you will sink," Ritzler said. "The team work here is phenomenal between nurses, paramedics, techs and physicians and that collaboration spilled over into how we looked at the design."

At the outset of the project the UK Design Team emphasized the importance of staff involvement in the planning and design of their areas. The design team’s job has been to translate staff comments and insights about patients and their families, patient care, team interaction and education into responsive facilities. Staff participation included attendance at team meetings, visits to other hospitals, comments about mock-up areas, and most recently touring the construction in progress to confirm final details of construction. 

The new UK Emergency Department occupies the ground floor of the new UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital pavilion. Located at 1000 South Limestone and twice the size of the former facility, the new emergency department is the region's only Level 1 Trauma Center for adult and pediatric patients.

More information about the new emergency department visit www.ukhealthcare.uky.edu/new or visit http://www.youtube.com/UKHealthCare for a video tour. Click here to read more about UK's new emergency department.