HMA Hospital Opens New ORs, ED to Accommodate Community Growth

FLOWOOD—During the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, hospital leaders at River Oaks Hospital in Flowood quietly opened a trio of operating rooms armed with Smart Room technology, adding nearly 20,000 square feet of surgical space to the existing department that now features 18 ORs, including two cesarean section rooms.

The oversized multi-purpose ORs—twice as large as the hospital’s surgery rooms that opened with the hospital in 1981—feature the Laminar® air flow system, a more expensive yet cleaner air system that reduces the risk of infections.

“Everything in the new ORs is computer-generated,” emphasized Denny Bruns, FACHE, CEO of River Oaks in Flowood, part of Naples, Fla.-based Health Management Associates (NYSE: HMA). “Surgeons can tap into anything in the room with the touch of a finger.”

Even the lighting system is high-tech, with cleaner lights reducing exposure to infection while also making surgeons more comfortable during procedures.

“Now the surgeons don’t perspire ‘under the lights,’” noted Bruns. 

Completion of the three ORs gives River Oaks four Laminar air flow operating suites, a significant benefit for the metro-area market.

“As far as we know, there’s only one other Smart OR in the Jackson area, and it’s at Baptist,” said Bruns.

Even without the new ORs being operational until Dec. 27, surgeries at the Rankin County facility had increased from approximately 9,600 to 9,700 between 2009 and 2010.

“Those increases have primarily come from local physicians moving their patients to our facility,” said Bruns. “We feel very fortunate that we’ve been able to increase our volume of business, and surgeons of every specialty have emphasized how much they’ve enjoyed the new ORs. This year, we may do close to 10,000 surgeries at River Oaks. It’s not impractical for us to pick up another 200 or 300.”

Last fall, ENT physician Ron Cannon, MD, made headlines in Mississippi by performing the state’s first radical tonsillectomy using transoral robotic surgery (TORS) at River Oaks via the da Vinci Surgical System.  This particular minimally invasive procedure provides excellent access for resection of carcinomas of the tonsils via robotic arms. “The surgeon goes through the armpits so there’s no visible scar, which is an attractive benefit to patients,” explained Bruns.

Measuring more than 750 square feet each, the size of the new ORs allowed contractors to install Smart technology while also allowing adequate traffic flow space for the staff and plenty of room for surgeons to maneuver, said Jackie McGowan, vice president of facilities management and planning at River Oaks.

“These larger rooms make it so much easier for us to get the robotics in and out for surgeons to more efficiently do their work,” he said. “It’s not as crowded, and is a much better way to treat the patient.”

Bruns pointed out that in addition to securing another portable x-ray machine for surgeons to use during surgery, the surgical suites have access to two da Vinci Surgical Systems, including an orthopedic MAKOplasty tool for more accurate partial knee replacement.

This month, River Oaks unveiled an $8 million high-tech Emergency Department that added 12,000 square feet of new private treatment rooms, specialty care rooms and emergency-specific imaging services to the 145,000-square-foot tower that opened mid-2009. Specifically, the Emergency Room is housed in 9,918 square feet; imaging services absorb 2,086 square feet.

The new Emergency Department is nearly three times larger than the 3,454-square-foot original space, and has the capacity to treat twice as many patients.

“We’ve been able to finish on schedule and on budget, and provide the services our doctors ultimately wanted to have,” said McGowan.

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