Abbott Northwestern Hospital Holds Dedication Day For Its New Heart Hospital
MINNEAPOLIS, March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Today is Dedication Day for Abbott Northwestern's Heart Hospital, located on its Minneapolis campus in the Phillips neighborhood. The Heart Hospital will provide new, expanded space for cardiovascular services, and a new inpatient space for neuroscience, orthopaedic and spine services.
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Groundbreaking for the 256-bed facility took place in October 2002. The $102 million Heart Hospital has added 388,000 square feet of space, centralizing the hospital's 128 cardiovascular beds, outpatient services and allowing space for future growth. The seventh and eighth floors house the new $41 million Neuroscience, Orthopaedics and Spine Center, including 128 private rooms designed for the specific needs of these patients, their families and the staff who care for them. The building is an expansion of the current Abbott Northwestern Hospital and is located on the east side of the campus, along 10th Avenue and south of the Piper Building.
"For everyone involved, this has been a unique opportunity to go beyond a mere building project and examine the way in which we do our work," said Julianne Lapensky, RN, MS, director, Hospital Expansion Implementation. The Heart Hospital will house the full range of cardiovascular services available on both an inpatient and outpatient basis. "Clinic patients won't have to worry about finding their way around a large hospital campus," added Lapensky. "They'll have a single check-in and complete their visit and diagnostic tests in one area."
"The Heart Hospital has been built to be a healing environment for patients and their families," said Randall Johnson, MD, cardiologist with the Minneapolis Heart Institute. "The opening of the Heart Hospital is an important part of our vision. The new facility will combine the finest in personalized patient care with sophisticated technology in a unique, family- oriented environment. We are committed to advancing the science and art of cardiovascular care."
The Heart Hospital will open for patients in stages over the next three months. "Abbott Northwestern has done more than build a new facility," said Richard Sturgeon, MD, interim president, Abbott Northwestern. "Our nurses, physicians and other health care professionals looked at the entire patient care experience and developed a new patient care model, built on the strengths already in place in Abbott Northwestern's tradition of excellence."
The patient care model will focus on the entire patient experience across the continuum of care. Key components include: prevention and lifestyle management, optimal and coordinated care during the acute episode, disease management, ongoing education and support, integrative approaches to promote wellness and healing and the presence of a healing environment in each care delivery setting.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States, according to the American Heart Association. Allina's Abbott Northwestern Hospital has been ranked as one of America's Best Hospitals for cardiac care for the past three years. The hospital was also ranked as one of the 100 Top Hospitals for cardiovascular care by Solucient.
Abbott Northwestern has also been ranked as one of America's Best Hospitals in the specialty of neurology and neurosurgery, which includes spine surgery. The Neuroscience, Orthopaedics and Spine Center, located on the seventh and eighth floors of the building, will also open for patients in spring 2005. "We feel immensely privileged as physicians to be delivering care in Abbott Northwestern's new facility," said Ensor Transfeldt, MD, a surgeon with Twin Cities Spine Center. "It will be a great place to give care and, most importantly, it will be a great place for patients to receive care." In 2004, nearly 4,000 spine surgeries were performed at Abbott Northwestern, making it one of the world's leading spine centers.
Minneapolis-based Abbott Northwestern Hospital is part of Allina Hospitals & Clinics, a non-profit network of hospitals, clinics and other health care services. Abbott Northwestern is found online at http://www.abbottnorthwestern.com/ and the Minneapolis Heart Institute is found online at http://www.mplsheart.com/ .
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