Page 31 - February 2017

Population Growth Leads to a $64 Million Hospital Expansion

Parkland resident Drew Grossman
is the Chief Executive Officer of
Broward Health Coral Springs
(BHCS), part of a nationally recog-
nized health system regarded for its
quality care. He has nearly 20 years
in healthcare administration joining
BHCS in 2005 as Chief Operating
Officer. Grossman has been the driv-
ing force in leading BHCS’s growth
over the last decade.
The hospital's growth includes a
Drew Grossman recent $6 million investment in radiol-
ogy equipment which allows physi-
cians to make more accurate diagnosis based on image quality at
the lowest radiation dose - a technology that makes BHCS a
leader within the community. In addition BHCS remains the one
and only hospital in the state of Florida to achieve a Joint Rendering of 2018 completion of Broward Health Coral Springs
Commission Accreditation in Minimally Invasive Colorectal
Surgery Program with ZERO deficiencies. sive care rooms; 12 private labor & delivery suites; and 28 private upscale recovery
Grossman has simultaneously set his sights on growing the hospital to match the suites whereas we currently only have 11. This is significant as we handle about
growing population. Currently the hospital is undergoing a $64 million expansion 2,400 births a year.”
increasing bed capacity from 196 beds to 250 beds - expected to be completed in As for the hospital’s top “need” that would be increasing the number of
2018. This is a strategic move in order to develop a competitive edge and a long medical/surgical beds with an additional 28 beds in the third floor of the new south
overdue need. tower. The need for more beds comes as a result of the dramatic increase in ER vol-
The “edge” comes in the area of maternity services. “For a hospital that is highly umes since its expansion in 2011. “In 2005 our ER volumes were close to 47,000
regarded for its maternity services, we have lost some patients to competitors due visits annually. Today they are close to 70,000 visits per year which gives you an
to the lack of private rooms (regardless of care),” said Grossman. “While we now idea of the growth of our community,” said Grossman. And with these expansions
have changed to ALL private maternity rooms, our new South Tower’s first two in mind, Grossman has clearly set the hospital on a secure financial path, just in
floors will be designated to accommodate the following: 10 private neonatal inten- time to celebrate the hospital’s 30th anniversary in 2017.

Cover Story: Broward Health North's New ER Offers a 'Better Patient Experience'

Continued from page 1

There is also a TV in each room for the families to be entertained when tests are taking Not only has the new department improved patient experience, but it has also
place. There are nice photographs and murals in each of the rooms, which is aesthet- increased the number of admissions that can be handled. As Robert Bugg stated,
ically pleasing." Bugg added that the pictures were taken by some of the staff and "With the current configuration, we're at about 64,000 visits per year. Anything above
physicians. "We had them blown up and they're right above the bench area where 60,000 falls into a high-capacity emergency room, according to national guidelines,
everyone sits, and it brings a nice calming effect to the room." and we have the availability of going up to about 75,000 visits with this new config-
In addition, the rooms have sliding glass doors, so they can be closed if the patient uration. So we're pretty well set for the future."
is seeking privacy. "It makes them feel a little more secure and it's quieter than it used
to be," Bugg said. "You can imagine what it was like before, with everything going on, For more information, call (954) 786-6860 or visit www.browardhealth.org.
and with people being worked on in the hallways. So the experience I would say is
much less intense, which is the word I like to use. Now it's really nice and the atmos-
phere is less intensive, it’s more calming to the patients and to the staff as well."
Dr. Boyar added that the rooms are universal with a number of capabilities, mean-
ing patients can be treated with a variety of technologies in any of the rooms. The new
space has a dedicated pediatrics area, which is set away from the rest of the emergency
department. He said other major upgrades were three dedicated trauma bays in the
level 2 trauma center. They are strategically located right off the entrance where EMS
comes into the area, as are two dedicated medical resuscitation rooms. The enhanced
ER provides more support to the comprehensive stroke center, the cutting-edge car-
diovascular center, and decontamination room.
With the new 36,000 sq. ft. area, Bugg said extra staff was added, including medical
personnel and paramedics, along with cleaning staff, and transport and respiratory
staff.
All of this has indeed brought about a better patient experience. Dr. Boyar said that
each day he works he receives comments like, this is terrific, it's spectacular. He con-
tinued, "Some of the patients before were complaining about how long they stayed in
the emergency room. Now they're actually saying that they wish they could stay a lit-
tle longer."
The new ER opened in December, and Dr. Boyar said the move was "as smooth a
transition as it could be. You can imagine the number of moving parts that are in an
emergency department at any one time. We chose a time of 4 a.m. on December 11.
We moved every patient from our old ER to our existing Emergency Department, then ENGINEERING
had to coordinate our computer systems, phone lines, monitoring, supplies. And it BAC
went off without a hitch. Everybody had the same goal, to provide the best patient
experience. With that in mind we all worked together collaboratively." RESEARCH

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