Froedtert Hospital recently opened new surgical suites and post-operative areas as part of a multi-phase project aimed at integrating surgical, interventional and intensive care areas on a single, centrally-located floor.
The new operating rooms replace those in the hospital’s basement, which were built in the 1970s. In the new rooms, air is circulated and replaced every three minutes, which reduces airborne pathogens and the chance of infection.
The proximity of the operating rooms to the magnetic resonance room also helps increase efficiency. Previously, surgeons would close the opening, run an MR scan and, if the tumor was not fully resected, for example, perform another operation. Now, a scan can be completed in real-time and surgeons can modify if needed.
- One of Froedtert Hospital’s new operating rooms, which are about 800 square feet.
- Seabrook demonstrates how the color of the LED lights in the operating room, which also contain cameras, can be adjusted according to a surgeon’s preference. Credit: Dan Profio
- The MR suite is connected to two operating rooms. Sea- brook and John Balzer, vice president of facility planning and development, describe how patients are transferred from operating table to scanner. Credit: Dan Profio
- Rather than having one centralized fan, the IPP has an array of 20 fans that circulate air in the operating rooms. Credit: Dan Profio