Save St. Luke's Hospital
Save St. Luke's Hospital
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Testimony: Hearing on Closure of St. Luke’s Medical/Surgical 10th Floor BOS Operations & Neighborhood Services Committee November 29, 2007
It has recently come to my attention of CPMC's decision to permanently close the 10th floor of St. Luke's. This closure has a direct impact on patient care in several ways. One major impact of this closure is the sheer increase in noise level. As the winter months approach, the census can double or triple. More patients on the 9th floor also bring an increase of personnel (PT, RT, dietary, case managers, doctors, visitors, etc.) Although such personnel are valued and necessary, noise levels are also doubled and tripled, which are not in the best interest of allowing our patients a rapid road to recovery. A second impact is the integration of surgical patients, especially orthopedics. Take for example, knee replacement surgery. It has previously been the practice that orthopedic patients have had private rooms. Since our floor is limited in the number of private rooms, patients have been assigned to two or sometimes four bed rooms, depending on the census. The space in these rooms is limited and it is difficult to find room for all the equipment necessary, e.g. IVACs, PCA pump, Cryocuffs, CPM machines. Often there are not enough outlets to safely plug in all the machinery, requiring us to use outlets near the sink without ground fault interrupters. The third impact I see as a result of the 10th floor closure is that 9th floor is now the only floor open for admission and transfers. Because staffing is so tight, patients who are to be discharged are sometimes told to wait in the visitor waiting room because we need their bed for a new patient. This causes stress not only to the staff but patients and family as well. All of these impacts I have mentioned result in stress to staff and patients. That cannot be good for anyone. I hope CPMC will reassess their decision to close the 10th floor and do what is good for the most important on of all, the patient. Leslie Landeros RN St. Lukes’s Medical/Surgical 9th Floor
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