Palos Community Hospital ready for Patient Move Day

After years of construction and meticulous planning, Palos Community Hospital is set to move approximately 150 patients to the Hospitaller Pavilion on Sunday, March 24.

Beginning in the early morning hours, patients, with varying degrees of illness, will be transported from the existing hospital, which is now known as the St. George Pavilion, to the Hospitaller Pavilion. Units being relocated include Telemetry, Oncology, Medical/Surgical and Intensive Care. The entire move will take place within the pavilions and is expected to last 6 to 8 hours.

The hospital began preparing for the patient move months ago, from discussions about the transfer routes to staff assignments to a Mock Move with volunteers and volunteer staff members serving as mock patients and their family members. The simulated move was designed to test the adaptability of the plan for Patient Move Day.

“In preparation for the day, we have planned for every variable and made sure our plan is flexible to accommodate changes in patients’ conditions and admissions,” says Jill Beechler, assistant vice president of Cardiovascular Services and Telemetry, and the chairwoman of the Patient Move committee. “It will be like every day at Palos Community Hospital where patient safety is our top priority.”

Hundreds of hospital employees have been involved in bringing the Hospitaller Pavilion to fruition. From discussions about patient room functions to orchestrating the details that make for a successful Patient Move Day, Palos employees are dedicated to making this as seamless as possible.

The patients will be moved about every two minutes, and the units will alternate so each Medical/Surgical unit will experience a move about every 20 minutes and the Intensive Care Unit about every 10 minutes. A Command Center has been established to serve as the headquarters for the move day operations. Inside the Command Center, a team consisting of a move commander, move sequencers and support staff will monitor all communications among the nursing units in each pavilion and know where each patient is in the move process.

The Hospitaller Pavilion adds 400,000 square feet to Palos Community Hospital. From the Center for Short Stay Care and 14 operating suites and advanced procedure rooms to the 192 private patient rooms and state-of-the-art Intensive Care Unit, the Hospitaller Pavilion houses some of the most advanced diagnostic and treatment technologies in the southwest suburbs.

In June, modernization will begin in the St. George Pavilion. The Phase 2 plan includes development of a Breast Health Center, a Cardio-Pulmonary unit, relocation of the Cardiology intake area and expansion of the Emergency Department.

“We’re very excited to bring this project to our community,” says Sister Margaret Wright, president of Palos Community Hospital. “It promises to set a new standard for the delivery of health care services in the southwest suburbs and allows Palos Community Hospital to continue providing the quality of care that people have come to expect.”