West Valley Medical Center invites public to celebrate new ICU
CALDWELL — The expanded, completely renovated Intensive Care Unit at West Valley Medical Center is finished — reason for celebration, including a grand reopening and ribbon-cutting ceremony.
These public ceremonies begin at 1 p.m. May 30, followed by the Caldwell Chamber of Commerce's monthly Business After Hours event at 4:30 p.m.
WVMC is excited about unveiling this latest symbol of its continued commitment to state-of-the-art facilities that help make the health care experience more comfortable for patients and their families.
"The ICU improves our ability to meet the needs of critical care and cardiac patients," said Kevin Worley, director of critical care/telemetry at WVMC. The hospital has introduced inpatient dialysis and pulmonologist and hospitalist services within the past three years.
One key change serves patients and their relatives equally: the new ICU visitors policy allows 24-7 access for family members. Also, the average room size has doubled.
"We realize the reciprocal importance for our guests and their family members to be there for each other," WVMC CEO Julie Taylor said. "In our ICU, closeness and comfort are of the utmost importance. It’s all part of the healing process.”
Improvements throughout
This multimillion-dollar renovation brings many improvements to the ICU, including:
- Total square footage has increased by 30 percent
- Sleep chairs that enable family members to stay with patients
- Patient lifts in every room, plus a bariatric room with a lift that can hold up to 1,200 pounds
- Live monitors in each room serve as a safeguard for patients
- Noise reduction throughout the unit
- Workplace efficiency upgrades, including additional nurse stations, increased physician space and an area dedicated to charting by ancillary staff
To learn more about the ICU and other recent improvements at WVMC, visit www.westvalleymedctr.com.