Photo by Frank Couch.
Grandview
The hybrid operating room is one of several services at Grandview Medical Center.
The ambulances that transport patients and equipment to the new Grandview Medical Center will look very similar to a presidential motorcade. On Oct. 10, a “package” of four ambulances, a moving truck and two police cars will leave Trinity every 15 minutes, making their way to their new home.
It’s a routine the hospital has practiced for more than a year to get just right, testing everything from nurses’ familiarity with the ambulances to the route that will cause the least traffic problems. It will take more than 30 ambulances to complete. Chief Nursing Officer Andy Romine said the goal is to have Grandview full of patients and completely operational by late afternoon on Oct. 10. Trinity will remain operational until the last patient is moved.
“Our primary goal is to keep our patients safe above all else, and that will dictate our timeline,” Romine said.
The move day comes at the end of a $280 million investment from the current Trinity Medical Center. The Grandview campus includes a 1 million-square-foot medical center, a multistory physicians’ office building and a 1.25 million-square-foot parking deck, which CEO Keith Granger said may be the largest in the state. He expects to serve between 200 and 250 people every day immediately after the doors open and quickly grow to 350.
The community and future staff got their first glimpse of the facility in September. Inside, the hospital’s services included: labor and delivery rooms with private units for babies in intensive care; a floor devoted to surgery, with 32 operating rooms and a hybrid OR for multiple heart procedures; and an ICU with private rooms and technology for constant vitals monitoring.
There will not be new services at Grandview compared to Trinity, but Granger said to expect “greater depth” of those services in the form of more staff and new technology.
Grandview also has a Level III trauma center with its own parking deck and helipad to provide access to 24/7 emergency care. Granger said the department is designed to have quick access to diagnostics and equipment for heart problems, so treatment can begin within 90 minutes. He said the overall wait time for emergency patients will be kept between 17 and 30 minutes.
“Time is everything,” Chief Operating Officer Drew Mason said. He noted that Grandview’s full treatment capabilities will make it appealing to residents in need of emergency care.
ALDOT has been at work for months near Grandview’s 280 entrance, public information officer Linda Crockett said, to expand 280 and build two left turn lanes for westbound drivers to enter Grandview’s campus and three left turn lanes for drivers to exit the campus back onto the highway. Nearby, ALDOT is also working on another auxiliary lane project at I-459’s northbound exit and entrance ramps.
Crockett said the turn lane work has been done in conjunction with Grandview’s construction progress. Granger said that except for some finishing work, he expects the turn lane project to be complete by the time the hospital opens.
Grandview will hold a grand opening ceremony on Oct. 2.
Grandview Medical Center is located at 3690 Grandview Parkway and its main phone number will be 971-1000. Visit grandviewhealth.com.
