TAMC projects designed to improve patient experience
PRESQUE ISLE — The New Year brings with it new, exciting changes to TAMC’s A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital. The ongoing construction and renovation work, which represents significant changes to the buildings that comprise the medical center’s Academy Street campus, is based on patient and community feedback.
Contributed photo
REVIEW PLANS — TAMC Vice President for Support Services James McKenney, left, and Facility Engineer Tim Doak look over blueprints for the new Aroostook Cancer Care Center inside the area under construction that will house the new chemotherapy infusion atrium on the west side of the East Wing Building on the A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital campus.
“This is first and foremost about hearing what our patients are telling us about their experience with us and how we might improve it. Our efforts are designed with that patient experience, quality care and convenience as top priority,” said TAMC President/CEO Sylvia Getman. “We are working to group similar practices and services together and, to every extent possible, locate patient care areas to the main level, while moving non-patient care areas on the lower and upper levels.”
The work, which began nearly two years ago, will extend into 2018. However, several of the more visible projects are now underway. These include new centers for cancer, orthopedic and cardiac care that will bring together services located on various parts of the hospital campus. In addition to new spaces for each specialty care practice, new technology will be added to ensure patients continue to receive the highest quality care.
The expansion efforts are directly related to TAMC’s response to patients’ requests to bring in additional specialists in various fields. In the past year, the medical center has added providers in orthopedics, urology, cardiology, radiology, and eye care to meet demand.
TAMC inpatients on the medical/surgical and women and children’s units will notice a difference as work to upgrade both areas continues. In addition to a fresh, new look, the medical/surgical floor is transitioning to private patient rooms, a project that is ongoing. The women and children’s unit, which already accommodates one patient to a room, has been renovated with a number of additions.
Along with the transition to private patient rooms, renovation to one of the rooms on the medical/surgical floor to better accommodate patients who have extended hospital stays, including patients receiving end-of-life care, is now complete. The project was funded, in part, by nurses and staff on the unit. Community donors also have been instrumental in making the room a reality.
Work throughout the hospital is being completed by either TAMC maintenance staff, many of whom are skilled craftsmen, or local contractors and subcontractors who have crews in various parts of the facility. Many of the projects include upgrades to the building and new technologies that are aimed at making TAMC more efficient, environmentally friendly, and, most importantly, the most advanced and comprehensive caregiver in the region.
“We are very fortunate to have both a very talented maintenance staff and some top-notch local contractors working on the many projects we have underway and those that are upcoming,” said James McKenney, TAMC vice president for support services. “Not only is their exceptional work helping us to save money, but they are installing the latest energy efficient fixtures that will help us realize future savings in heating and electricity.”
According to TAMC facility engineer Tim Doak, with some of the renovation work complete and other energy efficiency initiatives undertaken throughout TAMC facilities since 2012, the hospital has reduced its electrical consumption by over 1.25 million kilowatt hours per year, which has resulted in an annual savings of approximately $150,000.
The work to date has included the installation of LED light fixtures in many areas, both inside and outside of buildings, and in all newly renovated spaces. TAMC will continue to convert light fixtures in other parts of the facility with recent notification from Efficiency Maine of a matching grant that will allow for the replacement of all site lighting and most corridor lighting at the hospital.
In addition to the savings associated with the lighting conversion, TAMC has saved an additional $400,000 in energy costs over the past 18 months burning compressed natural gas rather than number 2 heating oil. Aside from the cost savings, the effort has resulted in significantly fewer pollutants being released into the air.
“As we undertake this important work, we are also upgrading the technology our providers use in the clinical areas we are renovating and in other parts of the facility as well,” said McKenney. “We are improving the patient experience and directly and positively impacting patient care.”
One of those areas is TAMC Eye Care Services. This recently-completed project included an expansion (doubling in physical space) and complete renovation of the practice, which has experienced significant growth in recent years with the addition of new providers. Located on the ground level of the Presque Isle Medical Office Building, Eye Care Services is led by the ophthalmologist team of County-natives Drs. Stephen Martin and Mark Morin.
The space on the main floor of the East Wing Annex Building located next to Aroostook Cancer Care will be the new home of TAMC’s radiation therapy service, the only of its kind for cancer patients in northern Maine. Bringing together oncology and hematology services at Aroostook Cancer Care and the radiation therapy services will allow for the creation of the region’s most comprehensive and technologically advanced cancer care center.
As part of the effort, work is currently underway to install a new, state-of-the-art linear accelerator, which provides radiation therapy used to shrink tumors for cancer patients. It is the only such piece of equipment in northern Maine, and TAMC is in need of replacing an aging unit currently located in another area of the hospital. Construction of an atrium area that will provide a beautiful new environment for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy is also currently underway on the East Wing Building. The new Aroostook Cancer Care Center is set to open in late spring 2015.
As construction on the new cancer care center is in full swing, so is work on TAMC’s new orthopedic center. The medical center offers the most comprehensive orthopedic services north of Bangor with a team of five providers, including the only surgical podiatrist and physiatrist in the region.
The busy orthopedic practice has outgrown its space on the upper level of the Millennium Medical Office Building and will move to the main level of the Pinkham Wing, in space formerly occupied by conference rooms and the TAMC medical library. It will open later this winter. Among the many new features, the orthopedic center will feature state-of-the-art digital X-ray equipment within the practice.
Renovation work on the main entrance, known as the Levesque entrance in honor of County philanthropists J. Paul and Blanche Levesque, is nearly complete. The space now accommodates key personnel that patients need access to including TAMC’s patient advocate, admission/discharge, financial guide, and the cashier.
Changes also accommodate a new guest relations area and expanded gift shop. Proceeds from purchases in the new TAMC gift shop are designated to benefit the County Dialysis Center, operated by TAMC at the North Street Healthcare facility.
The renovation and construction work is being completed in part with funds provided through dollars received by TAMC in 2013 as part of the state’s payment of Medicaid debt owed for years to hospitals across the state. TAMC had deferred a number of projects and upgrades to its facilities for a number of years as a result of the Medicaid payment being held back and the financial challenges the situation presented.
