Hospital Opens Critical Care Unit and Imaging Suite
NEW ORLEANS - On Wednesday, September 5, 2007, Ochsner Baptist Medical Center took another large step forward in achieving its two-year vision to revitalize the uptown New Orleans campus by adding more in-patient beds and opening both a Critical Care Unit and an Imaging Suite.
"At this time, Ochsner Baptist offers a full range of medical services, and with the completion of our Critical Care Unit the facility is now capable of handling virtually all medical and surgical cases, with the exception of trauma, open heart surgery and neurological cases," says Curtis Dosch, Chief Executive Officer of Ochsner Baptist Medical Center. Ochsner Baptist is currently performing approximately 180-200 surgical cases monthly. Dosch says he expects this to double over the next few months to 350 to 400 due to the addition of the Critical Care Unit and Imaging Suite.
Just six weeks ago, Ochsner unveiled its phased, two-year plan for the continued re-opening and service expansion of its hospital located at 2700 Napoleon Avenue. The finalization of Phase II increases services at Baptist to include:
- Full-service Acute Care Facility
- 15 in-patient beds
- Critical Care Unit with 3 CCU beds
- Imaging Suite with CT scan and Radiographic-Fluoroscopic X-Ray
- Expanded in-house laboratory services
- PACS, a film-less method of storing and communicating radiology results
"As we enter Phase III and IV, the community can look for the addition of seven more in-patient beds (25 total beds) by the end of October, and in November an Outpatient Imaging and Radiation Therapy Center that offers CT, MRI, Ultrasound, Radiology, Fluoroscopy, Radiation Therapy and Nuclear Medicine," explains Robert Wolterman, Vice President of Operations for Ochsner Baptist Medical Center.
As Ochsner Baptist enters the second year of its plans, Wolterman explains, "In 2008, physicians and patients can look forward to the renovation of the Clara Wing with additional inpatient beds, a possible childcare center in the former campus church, and the addition of a Senior Living Center in the Main campus building." Renovation and construction have been ongoing at Baptist since December 2006.
In addition to mending the campus' infrastructure, the medical workforce is gaining momentum. "Our actively admitting physicians include 169 community physicians." Dosch goes on to say that "as we continue to grow services, we expect our staff and patient base to grow proportionally."
"We'll continue the legacy of quality patient care at Baptist and as before, Baptist remains an open-staff model; therefore, any physician in the community can use the facility," says Dr. Patrick Quinlan, Chief Executive Officer of Ochsner Health System. Ochsner Baptist Medical Center continues to accept the Tenet Choices Health Plans offered by Peoples Health Network and all major health insurance plans.
Ochsner Health System (www.ochsner.org) is a non-profit, academic, multi-specialty, healthcare delivery system dedicated to patient care, research and education. The system includes seven hospitals, a sub-acute facility, and 33 health centers located throughout Southeast Louisiana. Through our unique coordinated system, Ochsner provides healthcare with peace of mind because we put the needs of all patients first. Ochsner employs over 600 physicians in 80 medical specialties and subspecialties and conducts over 700 ongoing clinical research trials annually. Ochsner was ranked #1"Best Place to Work" by New Orleans CityBusiness Magazine in 2005 and 2006 and received the Consumer Choice for Healthcare in New Orleans for 12 consecutive years. Ochsner was ranked as "Best" Hospital by U.S. News and World Report in July 2007.
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