UHC Celebrates Opening of New State of the Art Intermediate Care Unit with Ribbon Cutting
By Chris Johnson on September 25, 2024
Sometimes a hospital patient doesn’t require the critical care from an ICU unit but they still aren’t in a position to be on a regular floor or quite ready to be discharged.
WVU Medicine United Hospital Center has made strides to provide quality care for patients in those situations with a brand new state-of-the-art Intermediate Care Unit for which there was a ribbon cutting ceremony and celebration for on Tuesday.
“This unit is here to serve as a place for patients who are well enough to leave the ICU but still too sick to go to the floor,” said Tiffany Niederhauser who is the Nurse Manager of the new Intermediate Care Unit. “We’re calling it the bridge, to bridge that gap in patient care.”
The Intermediate Care Unit (IMU) features 18 patient rooms that enhanced private rooms on the seventh floor. The project cost $7.9 million and the IMU is set to open its doors to patients on Oct. 1 and the patient to nurse ratio will be 3-1.
The rooms feature new cabinetry and recliners, individual climate control features, LED light fixtures, wood grain laminate flooring, soundproof ceiling tiles and private bathrooms with walk-in showers and raised toilets.
There is also ample space, scenic window views that provide plenty of natural light and the best and latest on the technology front.
“One of the exciting features of this unit is we wanted it to be as high-tech as possible,” Niederhauser said. “One of the first components we looked at was touchless systems (for the doors and bathrooms) and that improves our ability have less risk of infection.”
There are also Phillips monitors that show real-time information for patients, brand new compact respiratory equipment and other exciting new equipment to help the staff give patients the best possible care. One item is so new, that UHC will be the first to incorporate it.
“We have an electronic white board,” Niederhauser said. “We are to first to implement and develop it. It communicates in real time with EPIC, which is our documentation system. It cycles up with updated information every 15 minutes. EPIC is working with us to develop this. They don’t really have anything like this so we are pioneering with them to develop this.”
The excitement for the new unit doesn’t end with the patient rooms. The nurses station is state of the art as well with a new touchscreen patient monitoring system, electronic assignment board and an expanded work area are just some of the features.
The unit also has a conference room, employee break area, storage rooms, offices and a private consultation room.
“We’re incredibly excited,” President and CEO of United Hospital Center David Hess said. “Really, this is just the evolution of WVU Medicine United Hospital Center turning into a regional referral center to serve the central part of the state and region.
“We’re answering the call of the community to have more capacity in our hospital.
“A lot of patients don’t need critical care, they just need a higher level of monitoring and this allows us to provide for that.
“I think we nailed the mix of having enough space for our staff to care for our patients and providing a level of comfort to our patients.”
UHC’s Vice President of Nursing, Stephanie Smart said she is most excited about the IMU’s ability to help the needs of the community by addressing the amount of capacity for patients that need care.
Smart was pivotal in the design phase of the unit and worked closely with those deciding what went where and various other engineering issues.
“I felt like I was married to the facilities department,” Smart said with a laugh. “But it was exhilarating to be a part of it. We included a lot of front line staff to make we got it right and I think we nailed it.”
Editor's Note: Top photo is from Tuesday's ribbon cutting ceremony at UHC for the new Intermediate Care Unit. Second photo is of Niederhauser explaining some of the new features in the patient rooms, third photo is of the new nurses station and bottom photo is of Smart.
