Forum to showcase hospital renovation

The new facility has decontamination technology for biohazard exposure.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Kevin M. Spiegel, chief operating officer at Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital, is excited about its new Center for Emergency Medicine and wants to show it off.
The public will be able to view the center from noon to 2 p.m. Thursday at the hospital, 1350 E. Market St.
The project is the third phase of a $22 million improvement program -- $17 million of it spent on the emergency center.
Amber Wallace, director of philanthropy for TMH Foundation/Western Reserve Health Foundation, pointed out that $4 million of the $22 million was donated.
The 14,170-square-foot center includes the emergency room, which was expanded by 39 percent.
Spiegel said the state-of-the-art center "represents our commitment to the community and dedication to quality by providing premium health care with modern facilities, leading-edge technology and specialized programs."
Forum Health had wanted a $120 million, five-year master plan to expand and modernize its various facilities. Wallace explained, but the funds were dramatically cut. Forum Health Northside Medical Center is running in red ink, but the $22 million remained for the TMH projects. Groundbreakings were in June 2005.
Besides the emergency center, TMH has opened its new radiation oncology facility across East Market from the hospital, and a 142-foot-long skyway that connects the hospital's second floor with the radiation oncology department's third floor.
Disaster preparedness
The emergency facility will include a decontamination area to treat victims who have been exposed to biohazards, chemicals and radiation spills.
Robert Brooks, emergency center director, explained that the decontamination area has a separate entrance to limit exposure to others and separate ventilation and waste systems.
Brooks said that liquids such as bodily fluids and gasoline are drained into a 5,000-gallon holding tank. The tank is then pumped out and removed by hazardous materials specialists.
There is also an area where emergency medical technicians and firefighters exposed to contaminants can shower and change clothes before going home.
There are two isolation rooms to treat airborne diseases such as tuberculosis, chicken pox and measles. Air flows from the hospital into the isolation rooms and then outside so others in the hospital don't become exposed.
The two trauma rooms, Spiegel explained, have enough technology to perform heart surgery. The only heart treatment that can't be done is a transplant.
What's behind this
Brooks pointed out the design philosophy was to get quicker treatment to the patient. After the patient is treated, the staff uses wireless equipment for the paperwork, including payment, at bedside.
Dr. William Phipps, a certified traumatologist, has been brought on staff, along with Dr. Michael Jones, an orthopedist.
The number of patient rooms has increased by five, with 29 rooms available.
On the outside, there are five ambulance bays and a helipad that can accommodate two helicopters simultaneously. Brooks said that the Federal Aviation Administration has installed a global positioning system so the aircraft can land in bad weather.
The hospital eventually wants to construct a critical-care unit above the emergency center, Spiegel said. Then, patients needing critical care can be taken by elevator directly from the emergency center without being wheeled through the hospital.
Spiegel said $2.5 million to $2.7 million is needed, and construction can't begin until funding is available.
yovich@vindy.com