Hospitals
Adventist Medical Center - Hanford
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers
Transition
General Design
Floor Plans
Patient Rooms and Medical Units
Emergency Department
Medical Imaging
Surgical Services
Nutritional Services
Chapel
Jobs
Hanford Medical Pavilion
Transition
Q: How are we preparing for the move into the new hospital?
A: We are working with a company that specializes in hospital moves to make sure we're covering every aspect of the move.
We are making our way through a task list that started with over 400 items ranging from writing policies to planning events. Six subcommittess are charged with accomplishing tasks in specific areas, such as clinical, human resources, computers and surgery. We also have scheduled practice move days and practice work days to make sure our processes flow as they're designed to.
On the day of the move, the Emergency Department at Adventist Medical Center-Hanford will open at 6 a.m. as the other two Emergency Departments close. The patient move will begin about an hour later, with about 10 ambulances carrying patients from the current hospitals to Adventist Medical Center-Hanford. Each patient will have a nurse riding with him or her. We will set up an Incident Command Center to track patient departures and arrivals. The move should be finished by early afternoon.
Q: Is there a date set that this move will occur?
A: Yes, a target move-in date is set for Sunday, Oct. 17, 2010. Please note the target date is subject to change, pending state approval.
Q: What will happen to the other hospitals/facilities?
A: Hanford Community Medical Center will no longer provide medical services and will be renamed Adventist Health/Central Valley Network-Support Services. The building will house business and support services until a decision is made about its new purpose. All medical services will transfer to Adventist Medical Center-Hanford.
Central Valley General Hospital will continue to provide OB and clinic services. Med/Surg and the Emergency Department will close and move to Adventist Medical Center-Hanford. OB services at Central Valley General Hospital will expand to the second floor so that more women can have private rooms.
The Kerr Outpatient Center next to Hanford Community Medical Center will still have outpatient surgery functions, with only the laboratory department moving to Hanford Medical Pavilion.
The Central California Imaging Center on Lacey Boulevard will close and move to the Hanford Medical Pavilion as Adventist Health lab and imaging services.
Q: When can the public tour the new hospital facility?
A: A community event will be held on Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010. The event will include a health fair and tours that will be open to the public. The time of the event will be announced.
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General Design
Q: What departments are moving into the hospital?
A: Many departments from both Central Valley General Hospital and Hanford Community Medical Center will move into the new hospital, including Medical/Surgical, ICU and Emergency. Administration and the Medical Staff Office also will be located there. However, because the new hospital is designed for inpatient care, it will house fewer outpatient services than the current hospitals do.
Q: How will people get around the hospital?
A: The design will provide easy access for family members (no circuitous routes to get to patient rooms). Elevators will deliver patients, family members, physicians and other visitors directly to the center of nursing units, easing access to patients. A set of two elevators will be dedicated for patient moves between floors, with a third set for physician access and other hospital business.
Q: How will the hospital’s overall design help patient care?
A: The design is focused on a calming, warm, healing environment. The design also decreases traffic in patient care areas, to make for a more restful stay. Room design is such that the patient room is offset approximately 8 feet from the hallway, further reducing sound in patient rooms
Q: Will the admitting process be different for the new hospital?
A: The new hospital’s process is designed so that all patients, unless they are direct admits by doctors, will be pre-admitted, providing greater ease to patients and family members. Currently, patients waiting to be admitted at our Hanford hospitals must wait as the admitting staff also admits patients coming to the hospital for outpatient work such as X-rays or lab draws. Because few outpatient services will be provided within the new hospital, these waits should decrease.
Q: Where will patients, visitors and employees park and enter?
A: Parking for patients and families will be in front of the hospital, accessible off Mall Drive. Employees and physicians will park and enter from the back, where they have access to dedicated elevators to take them to the upper floors, if needed.
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Floor Plans
Patient Rooms and Medical Units
Q: Will patients have to share rooms?
A: No. All rooms in the new hospital are private rooms. This will allow for a more secure atmosphere for the exchange of information and a more restful setting for patients. It will also improve infection control and prevention.
Q: What kind of technology and equipment will the patient rooms have?
A: All rooms will have wireless Internet access and flat-screen televisions. Items such as suction, oxygen, infusion pumps, etc. will be directly wired into the electronic medical record.
Q: What kind of computer access will be provided to clinical staff and physicians?
A: Each room will have bedside computer workstations available to nursing staff and physicians; in addition, four more workstations are available in alcoves on each unit. Each unit’s nursing station will have ample computers for use by nurses and doctors.
Q: How will patient beds be organized?
A: Nursing units will be separated by service; instead of a medical/surgical unit, the hospital will house medical patients on one floor and surgical patients on the other. Each floor will have two 30-bed medical-surgical units and an 11-bed ICU for a total of 142 beds. Currently, HCMC has the only ICU in Hanford, and it has 10 beds. The hospital will also have space for the addition of 60 medical-surgical beds as needs expand in the community.
Q: Will there be quiet rooms available?
A: Each floor will have a quiet room for family consultation.
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Emergency Department
Q: Why is the CVGH Emergency Department closing?
A: The Central Valley General Hospital Emergency Department is closing and the Hanford Community Medical Center Emergency Department is moving to Adventist Medical Center-Hanford to consolidate all emergency services into one centralized location for emergency care. The centralized location will feature expanded capacity and a helipad, and each emergency patient will have access to all of Hanford's emergency and critical care services at one hospital.
The new department will offer 26 private rooms, two more than what we have now between the two Hanford hospitals. Four beds for trauma care will be included, along with decontamination and isolation rooms.
The flow of patients through the Emergency Department will be better because of the increase in ICU and Med/Surg beds, which will cut down on patients being held in the Emergency Department while they wait for hospital beds to open up. Each emergency room will be private with walls and doors instead of curtains.
Q: Where will patients go for emergency services when the new hospital opens?
A: Emergency departments from both Central Valley and Hanford Community will move into the new hospital, creating one centralized location for emergency care with easy access off Highway 198. The centralized location will feature expanded capacity and a helipad, and each emergency patient will have access to all Hanford's emergency and critical care services at one hospital. The new department will offer 26 patient rooms, two more than what we have now between the two Hanford hospitals. Four beds for trauma care will be included, along with decontamination and isolation rooms.
Q: What improvements will be created by the design of the new Emergency Department?
A: The flow of patients through the Emergency Department will be better because of the increase in ICU and medical-surgicalbeds, which will cut down on patients being held in the Emergency Department while they wait for ICU or other hospital beds to open up. Each Emergency Department room will be private with walls and doors instead of curtains.
Q: What if a train prevents an ambulance from getting across the tracks to the new Emergency Department?
A: Highway 198 provides easy access to the new hospital from eastern or western Kings County. Ambulance crews have established routes to bypass the tracks when necessary after the new hospital opens. They see no complications from combining emergency services at one location.
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Medical Imaging
Q: Will there be any outpatient medical imaging services provided at the new hospital?
A: Yes, but mostly for emergency room patients, significantly improving access to medical imaging services for inpatients.
Q: What kind of radiology equipment will the new hospital have?
A: Equipment in the hospital’s medical imaging department will include digital X-rays, a CT scanner and an ultrasound room. Fluoroscopy services will also be available. An MRI will be available in an imaging center immediately adjacent to the hospital.
Q: How will medical imaging images be accessed?
A: A viewing and consultation room for doctors will be available, but the imaging systems will be completely digital. Doctors and other health care professionals will be able to view images throughout the hospital on designated computers and will be able to view them remotely through a secure Internet connection.
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Surgical Services
Q: What kind of surgery facilities will be offered at the new hospital?
A: Six surgery suites, one more than those at the current Hanford hospitals, will be available at the new hospital. Each room will be nearly 600 square feet, larger than current suites.
Q: Will the surgical suites utilize any new or updated technology?
A: New surgical lights will use LED to provide light, instead of halogen light bulbs. These generate less heat, and the LEDs will adjust to provide uniform lighting. Special green lights will also assist in infection control. Two surgical suites will be equipped with monitors so surgeons can view medical images while they perform surgery.
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Nutritional Services
Q: What kind of food and nutrition facilities will be included in the hospital?
A: The new hospital will have a cafeteria, called Courtyard Café, with seating for 140. A grill area for cooked-to-order meals and a large salad bar will be featured in the cafeteria for visitors, employees and the public. Physicians will have a dedicated dining room across from the cafeteria for easy access. A patio for outside dining is also included in the design.
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Chapel
Q: What kind of facilities will be dedicated to our patients’ spiritual needs?
A: A chapel will be located off the lobby, for easy access. The chaplains will have offices nearby.
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Jobs
Q: Are you hiring for the new hospital?
A: Yes, we are hiring for the new hospital. Many of our departments are hiring now under the current facility names in preparation for the staffing increase once the transition is complete. There aren't many, if any, positions specifically posted for the new hospital currently. Check Current Job Opportunities on our website often for any new positions. As we get closer to the opening of the new hospital, there may be more positions that are posted specifically for the new hospital, under the name Adventist Medical Center.
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Hanford Medical Pavilion
Q: What is the building next to Adventist Medical Center?
A: The new Hanford Medical Pavilion, next door to Adventist Medical Center-Hanford, will be home to a new surgery center and a lab and imaging center that will have Kings County’s first 64-slice CT scanner, a state-of-the-art device that allows for quicker scan time and higher resolution images of the heart.
The 63,000 square-foot, three-story Medical Pavilion is expected to open in September just before the new hospital opens. The first floor will house an outpatient surgery center, imaging center and laboratory patient services center. Physician offices will fill the second and third floors within the next year.
Kings River Surgical Center will perform surgeries in the 7,000-square-foot outpatient surgery center, which has two surgical suites and a procedure room. Kings River Surgical Center comprises a group of local surgeons with multiple specialties to provide the highest quality and efficient care to patients undergoing outpatient surgical interventions and procedures.
The surgeons specialize in gastroenterology, orthopedics, podiatry, urology, gynecology, general surgery and ear, nose and throat surgeries.
The Adventist Health lab and imaging center will have all digital X-ray equipment, two ultrasound machines, an MRI machine, radiology room, fluoroscopy room and the county’s first 64-slice CT scanner. The laboratory will house six phlebotomy draw stations.
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