New Digs for Patient Accounts

Patient Accounts staff shows off their new office space.

Work is finally finished in the new business office (patient accounts area). The spaces has been remodeled, brand new furniture installed and all the computers and wires are where they should be.

In addition to the office space, a new private room has been included for private financial counseling. The space is beautiful and functional. Congratulations!

Sustainability

Check out this link:

http://www.jjca.com/who-we-are/news/2011/10/24/sustainability/

New room in our Pharmacy

Area for compounding hazardous drugs, such as chemotherapy meds.

Area for mixing non hazardous compounds.

In the midst of all the other construction going on at CMH, we've also been building a state-of-the-art room for compounding (mixing) sterile products in the Pharmacy. This room will be used for creating things such as chemotherapy drugs, antibiotics, and other compounds given intravenously.

The temperature and humidity controlled room is a "clean" room, and so foot booties and protective garb must be worn. There is an automatic handwashing and drying machine as well. The room is divided into two parts - one for mixing hazardous medications, such as chemotherapy drugs, and the other is for non hazardous compounds. There is a cordless phone system, so the person working in the clean room can contact someone in the pharmacy if necessary, as well as a pass through, so the person working can receive supplies from outside the clean room or can give another staff member a finished compound. Construction in the room is very nearly finished, but like any hospital construction, it must be certified before the room can be used. Certification is expected in about four weeks.

Canopy

The canopy outside the East Entrance will soon be receiving a facelift! Crews will soon begin a partial demolition of the structure and will then rebuild it to match the canopies and facade of the new addition. It's going to be a beautiful addition to the East Entrance.

To protect patients during the demolition and construction, a wooden vestibule has been erected around the outside door. Signage will be posted very soon to further remind patients and visitors that the entrance is still open.

Stay tuned! We'll soon be posted ER and business office updates (with pictures!)

Pathways of Progress

Parkhurst Landscaping on Monday began installing the Pathways for Progress along the sidewalk in front of the Phase 2 addition. The pathway is an ongoing CM Foundation fundraiser. The bricks have been purchased by members of the community and engraved in tribute or in memory of loved ones. Businesses have engraved their logos on bricks. For more information, or to purchase a brick, please call CM Foundation at (618) 546.2671.

OR Update

Even as we prepare to celebrate the opening of our beautiful new addition, work is underway behind the scenes to plan future renovation projects!

The project consultation team on Monday finalized plans for the operating room renovation. The goal is to have three fully functional OR suites, allowing for more surgeries and more efficient use of the space, which is better for our doctors and our patients. The hospital's building and grounds committee will review this plan at its August 15th meeting and the full board will consider the matter at its August 17th meeting.

Meanwhile, work crews are furiously remodeling the former business office/patient accounts area. As you may recall, the old office will connect to the new addition, and will be much larger with areas for more private consultations. Work began here after the new addition opened and should be complete in a matter of weeks. In the interim, the business office staff has relocated to the former administrative office suite and the former marketing office.

Community Open House

CMH will host a community open house here at CMH from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 21. We hope to see a big crowd!

Celebration

CMH Employees celebrated the opening of the hospital's new addition today with a cookout and self-guided tours. An enormous thank you to everyone who had lunch with us and spent a few minutes looking around the new wing. And to those who helped - thank you very, very much.

CMH online

Chris Forde, the news reporter from WTYE, spent about an hour with us on Thursday, creating a video tour of our new wing. Watch the video here.

Don't forget the employee open house and (free) cookout lunch on Thursday, 7 /14 and the community open house from 4-6 p.m. on Thursday, 7/21.

Moving continues

The big move to CMH's new addition continues this week. Medical Records is moving right now, with both our Cardiac Rehab/Pulmonary and Consulting Clinic beginning to move as well.

Meanwhile, Information Systems is getting a new home as well. They are moving from their cramped office to the former training room.

Open House

As moving continues, plans are already in the works for events to celebrate the opening of this beautiful new addition!

We will celebrate the opening with employees from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, July 14, with a cookout and self-guided tours. The board, staff, volunteers and physicians are invited to stop by and walk through the new wing. Lunch will be from the grill, and will be cooked and served by the supervisors who have offices in this new area.

The public will be invited to help celebrate our new addition - along with our 50th anniversary - from 4-6 p.m. on Thursday, July 21. Finger foods will be served and tours will be available.

We hope to see all of you there.

MOVING DAY!

The Illinois Department of Public Health survey of our new addition was today and went very well. Admitting will move to its new space on Friday. The rest of the schedule will be developed on Monday.

Congratulations to every whose hard work made this possible.

Entrance change

Effective immediately: the Patient Services entrance (also known as the East Entrance) will be closed on Sundays. Visitors should use the visitors entrance (also known as the south entrance). Our apologies for the inconvenience.

On the way

Great news! The Illinois Department of Public health has notified us that they will be here some time during the week of June 6th to inspect the construction of Phase II. This inspection is required to obtain the certificate of occupancy. Once we have that certificate, moving can begin.

Please remember that until we have this certificate of occupancy, no one should be in the new wing without authorization. This is especially important as we prepare for the state inspector's visit.

ER Demolition Begins

Work has started on phase 3 of CMH's facility master plan - the renovation and expansion of the Emergency Room, Lab and Admitting areas. The nurse's station and the communication system have been removed and crews will begin taking out the telemetry later this week. It is expected that phase 3 could last 18 months.

Meanwhile, we are still awaiting word from the state as to when they will be making the site visit for phase 2. The site visit it necessary to obtain a certificate of occupancy.

New ER now open

The new Emergency Room at CMH is now open (as of noon yesterday). We have erected signs on the roads etc., to direct patients to the new entrance and several parking spaces in the former employee parking lot have been marked "reserved" for ER patients.

During this transition we ask all employees to please "walk" patients where they need to go, instead of just pointing. There are many detours for patients that can be extremely confusing for patients and families.

ER Move

ER Moving Day has been set! To allow for renovation of our existing emergency room, the hospital will relocate its ER to a different space within the hospital. Patients will begin receiving care in this new location on Wednesday, May 11.

The interim ER will be located on the north side of the hospital, near the helipad and employee parking lot. The emergency entrance for both walk-in and ambulance patients will be at this location. Special parking spaces will be designated for the public.

Renovations to the ER are expected to take about 18 months. When finished, the area will have more treatment areas, allowing for providers to care for more patients at any given time. The project will also enhance patient privacy and allow for better patient monitoring and safety.

Parking

In preparation for the temporary relocation of our ER, we're going to be making some changes in the employee parking lot to accommodate patients there.

Starting on Monday, may 2, staff of Robinson Rural Health will be parking in the north clinic parking lot on the first row along the road going to the Rehab building.
Hospital employees will then use the parking spaces behind the clinic. Weather permitting we will be marking the reserved patient parking spaces in the employee lot this weekend.

Thanks for your understanding and patience during this time.

Quick Updates

Just checking in for a couple quick updates today: A conference call is scheduled this week with our architects to discuss the operating room project. they will be reviewing changes to the design of the OR expansion. Our architects have been working on some design revisions and we're excited about seeing the changes!

Also wanted to mention that we have officially applied to the state for the occupancy permit for the new wing. No word yet on when they will be here for the on-site inspection - stay tuned!

A good sign

New signs are up! New lettering and logo has been added to the outside of the Outpatient Therapy Center, making the building clearly identifiable from the road.



Also on Wednesday, the interior guide signs were hung in the new wing. The signs have a contemporary style and look exceptional with the color scheme there.