Tamarah Rodriguez waited in eager anticipation for the November 20 patient move day to arrive. She and her 5-month-old son, Adriel Franco, had spent nearly a week in their hospital room on the seventh floor of the Abercrombie Building.
To ensure that her son received the best care possible, Rodriguez made the six-hour drive from her home in Edinburg, TX to Texas Children’s Hospital. Staying in one of Texas Children’s oldest buildings, she realized how small the room felt – not just for her and little Adriel – but also for her son’s care team.
“It was really hard to feel at home here,” Rodriguez said. “When we found out that we’d be moving in a newly renovated room with more space to walk around, I was very excited. And then, when I saw the room for the first time, it was simply amazing. It’s very spacious, cozy and the views are beautiful.”
On November 20, Texas Children’s reached an historic milestone when acute care services transitioned out of the 65-year-old Abercrombie Building and into 15 West Tower, which was formerly one of Texas Children’s cardiology units, and was renovated to meet the future growth of the hospital’s acute care patient population.
Beginning at 7 a.m., four specially trained clinical teams began safely transporting 33 acute care patients from Abercrombie 6 North and 7 South to their new, spacious, state-of-the-art rooms in 15 West Tower. Nine patients from Abercrombie 5 North relocated to 7 South, until the move to 7 West Tower occurs in February.
More than 50 Texas Children’s staff members were involved in the patient move to 15 West Tower, and the careful transfer of the patients took five hours, which was a lot sooner than originally anticipated due to the efficiency and effectiveness of the Abercrombie and 15 West Tower teams involved on Move Day.
The patient move involved teams from clinical support services, respiratory, facilities, security, nursing, administration, physicians, nurse practitioners, and all members of the acute care team. Patient and family services teams were assigned to each family member to help accompany and escort them from Abercrombie to the hospital’s new acute care unit. Throughout the move, the 15 West Tower Go-Live Support Center was set up in the Nursing Administration Director Workroom comprised of individuals who focused on patient move issue resolution and tracking from Abercrombie to 15 West Tower.
“The patient move was successful and flowed seamlessly,” said Rhonda Wolfe, Director of Nursing for Acute Care. “There was meticulous planning for several months leading up to Move Day which included reviewing patient move logistics, engaging staff, families and partnering with other departments to ensure roles were clearly delineated.”
Collaborating with our Facility Planning and Development partners, the 36-bed unit features larger patient suites (291 square feet), a playroom and two relaxing family rooms that give loved ones a space to gather. Dynamic features include four rooms engineered for the safety of patients with behavioral health needs and a simulation lab to provide state-of-the-art education. With these innovative technologies, 15 West Tower is well equipped to provide exceptional patient care for generations to come.
Impetus for historic patient move
The patient move is part of Texas Children’s West Tower Backfill Project, which involves transitioning patient care services out of Abercrombie. Abercrombie 7 South will remain “patient ready” and will be used as an overflow unit in times of high census. Abercrombie 5 North and 6 North will be decomissioned and designated for administrative use.
The smaller rooms (160 square feet) and limited technological capabilities in the 65-year-old building historically had presented challenges for providers, clinical care teams, patients and their families.
“When our executive steering committee looked at space planning and space management for our clinical programs, one of our guiding principles was to decrease or eliminate care in Abercrombie,” said Assistant Vice President of Nursing Jennifer Sanders. “The patient move from Abercrombie to West Tower, will enable our patient care teams to collaborate more efficiently in these new, enhanced spaces and will improve the experience for our patients and their families during their stay at Texas Children’s.”
The next phase of the West Tower Backfill Project will include moving patients from Abercrombie 7 South to 7 West Tower in February 2020. 7 West Tower will become a new 32-bed hematology and oncology unit.
