West Campus expands hospital’s perioperative suite

September 20, 2016

92116westcampusorexpansion640With scissors in hand, leaders at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus proudly cut a red ribbon draped across the entrance to the hospital’s newly expanded perioperative suite.

The September 15 ribbon cutting unveiled four new operating rooms, a new procedure room, three new call rooms as well as a new doctor’s lounge, kitchen and break area. The expansion brings the total number of operating rooms at West Campus to eight and doubles the total number of procedure rooms – places where minor outpatient procedures occur.

The call rooms, doctor’s lounge, and enlarged staff kitchen and break area didn’t exist before the expansion and, according to Chief Surgical Officer at the West Campus Dr. Allen Milewicz, will help set the stage for expanded perioperative capabilities at West Campus.

“This expansion will allow us to do longer, more complex surgeries,” Milewicz said. “It also will help us increase the scope of services we offer.”

Two growth areas of interest are orthopedics and dental, Milewicz added. The demand for such procedures is increasing in the West Houston area because families and area providers are eager to take advantage of the broad range of pediatric expertise that only a dedicated children’s hospital can provide. West Campus wants to be able to continue to accommodate that demand and grow with it.

Trauma is another area of potential growth, Milewicz said. Currently, West Campus does not see a large amount of trauma cases but wants to develop this service in the future. Having a fully equipped perioperative suite will allow the West Campus surgical team to treat such patients in the best manner possible.

“The scope of what community hospitals are being asked to do is growing,” Milewicz said. “We want to accommodate that growth and meet the demands of our patients and their families.”

West Campus Vice President Matt Schaefer agreed and said the expansion of the perioperative suite is not about new rooms or space but about West Campus’ ability to improve lives.

“A little more than five years ago, we stood in this same place with our first surgical patient and cut the ribbon to our perioperative suite,” Schaefer said. “Since then, we have met the surgical needs of more than 20,000 children. The expansion increases our ability to reach more children.”

Schaefer added that the recent expansion of the Perioperative Suite is part of a $50 million capital improvement effort that will help expand West Campus’ capacity and capability. To date the following projects have been completed:

  • Additional office and administrative support space for dedicated physicians and providers
  • An 18-bed expansion of the hospital’s acute care capacity, including an eight-bed special isolation unit designed for children with highly contagious infectious diseases.
  • Conversion of offices within ambulatory clinics into additional exam rooms to increase outpatient subspecialty access
  • A dedicated suite for Interventional Radiology services

The following projects are still in the works:

  • A new 14 exam room clinic for Neurology, Renal & Dermatology
  • Build-out of the final inpatient shell floor to accommodate 22 PICU beds