Healthcare Facility Planning, Research Paper Example

For the purposes of this research and informative paper I have chosen to write about St. James Parish Hospital which is located in the small town of Lutcher, Louisiana in the middle of Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana. This town is known for its industry along the Mississippi River which brings goods from various parts of the country up the mouth of the River.

Prior to the construction of this new hospital six months ago there was an operational hospital for over forty years, however the hospital was not equipped to deliver babies and for major surgeries. Many years ago most women in the town had their babies at the hospital but for years that section of the old hospital has been shut down and never re-opened in the new hospital. The new hospital does not house a major surgeon but the chief-of-staff and local doctors are able to perform minor surgeries such as tonsillectomies and putting tubes in ears of children, etc. The new hospital has all new construction including new beds, laboratory equipment, and medical devices for doctors and nurses and is extremely sterilized and clean. There are also all new computers in the ER and nursing stations. There are security cameras and devices all over the hospital and a new helicopter landing pad just by the front entrance of the emergency room. The old hospital was old and had problems with the roof hence there was leakage problems causing mildew and unsterile issues. This hospital has a new state of the art rehabilitation center serving the river parish area. The emergency room department staffs some of the finest doctors from Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

The population in the surrounding areas including Lutcher, Gramercy, Paulina and Convent and across the river including St. James and Vacherie all include St. James Parish area make up approximately 20,000 residents. The next nearest hospital is 20 miles away east in Laplace, Louisiana or 20 miles west in Gonzales, LA. The largest fully operational hospitals for child delivery and major surgeries are 45 miles away in either Baton Rouge or Kenner, LA.  The culture of the residents is of Cajun background and French speaking. The majority of the residents have been life-long residents including descendants from grandparents to children. They feel very comfortable with the doctors of the town, the local hospitals as well as the chief-of –staff. The chief-of-staff is not a native of the town, rather from India but is a very well-respected doctor of the town for his knowledge. He replaced the doctor who was a native for years. He runs a very well-organized and fine hospital.

The facility serves care of emergency room needs and transporting patients via ambulance or helicopter to larger hospitals for major situations such as heart attacks and limb loss, etc. Doctors can stabilize a patient in the emergency room temporarily or give shots to remove blood clots but any major situation is handled via transport to the larger hospitals. The hospital is equipped to take blood from patients, run EKG’s, run CT scans and other small tests to determine minor diagnosis. Any major issues must be maintained by larger hospitals in the cities.

“Some other services offered inpatient are radiology, nursing, cardiopulmonary, sleep disorder programs, wound care programs, anesthesia services and in and out patient laboratory services.” (“St. James Parish Hospital”).  The hospital is conveniently located for the residents who need good care that is a short drive away. For patients that need major surgeries or psychiatric care they need to consider a larger hospital as such that is located in the metropolitan areas of Baton Rouge or New Orleans. The old hospital had a small psychiatric and addiction center but it closed approximately two years before plans for the new hospital were implemented. There was difficulty finding psychiatrists to stay with this small facility on a regular basis.

The hospital is state of the art for a small size facility. It is extremely clean, bright and houses good ER doctors and educated and skilled nurses with good experience. There is a very positive upbeat feeling when you enter the hospital. The doctors and nurses are very clear and concise with their diagnosis and when caring for the patients. This is one of the advantages of checking in at small town hospitals and working at new hospitals. New environments seem to promote good work habits.

“At present one can donate blood at the hospital but they cannot donate an organ because the hospital is not set up for organ transfers.” (“Yale New Haven Hospital”)  Perhaps one day the hospital may consider expanding to submit to other services but just now they are happy with the services a small hospital has to offer.

References

St. James Parish Hospital Retrieved April 5, 2010 from, http://www.sjph.org/sjp.nsf/View/Cardiopulmonary

Yale New Haven Hospital Retrieved April 5, 2010 from, http://www.ynhh.org/