Parkview Wabash showcases new hospital

By Chelsea Boulrisse | Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly

Parkview Wabash Hospital is just putting the finishing touches on its new hospital building as it begins open houses and tours ahead of its June 27 grand opening.

This new hospital differs greatly from the current building, with the new facility boasting updated lobbies and treatment areas, new technology and plenty of windows to fill the halls with natural light. The artwork hanging on the walls depicts scenes from Wabash County, photographed by local residents, giving the hospital a sense of rooted interest in the community it serves.

The facility’s structure also contributes to a new “flow” that allows for more privacy than is offered at the current hospital, namely for patients being transferred from one department to another.

“Sometimes when we had to transfer patients to the med surge from the emergency department, they may have to go through a public hallway and whoever is there could see what was going on,” Cathy Wolfe, vice president of patient care services, said. “So this gives our patients that additional privacy.”

The new building will also house new and updated technology to up the level and quality of care offered in the hospital. “Smart beds” have been installed in the constant-care units, to ensure patients remain in their beds when needed and adjust the height of the bed according to treatment needs. The new emergency department includes a trauma room to immediately treat patients brought in with serious or life-threatening injuries and a triage room for when the department sees a high level of traffic.

The newest technology introduced is the Swiss Log system, which allows samples and medications to be transported between care units and the lab or pharmacy. Similar to the tube transports seen in banks, the system would speed up the lab testing process and make sure that only certain personnel have access to those results and prescriptions.

“The point of contact with the lab is at the front of the hospital,” Wolfe said. “So instead of walking back to the front and dropping off those samples, it facilitates a quicker turnaround time with those lab results.”

The newest addition to Parkview Wabash is the birthing center. Parkview Wabash President and CEO Marilyn Custer-Mitchell advised that the hospital has not delivered babies since 2004. Now, over a decade later, Parkview Wabash has already built up its maternity care department with nutrition and educational classes to help prepare new mothers for their babies’ arrivals. Dr. Lin Lu will head up the department.

The birthing center at the hospital, according to Custer-Mitchell, will be a locked department for the safety of babies and mothers. There are currently two labor, delivery, recovery, postpartum (LDRP) rooms in the area, with the ability to convert two others over to birthing rooms as well.

“We haven’t done births in years so we just don’t know what kind of volume to expect,” Custer-Mitchell said.

All operations will be transferred over to the new hospital starting at 6 a.m. June 27. The current hospital building faces demolition unless someone else buys the property.