Partnership between Alegent Creighton Health and Good Samaritan Hospital helps intensive care patients
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Article Date: Mar 15, 2013
Media Contact: Jodi Hoatson
(402) 343-4514
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| eICU Nurse Brenda Merkley |
OMAHA, Neb. – Intensive care patients need highly advanced medical care and very close observation. Alegent Creighton Health and Good Samaritan Hospital, both sponsored by Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI), are working together to offer patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) in Kearney an extra level of care with the eFocus program.
The eFocus program, also known as eICU®, is a second layer of care to patients in the Good Samaritan ICU, nearly 200 miles away from Alegent Creighton Health's headquarters in Omaha. The two hospitals began discussing the project nearly two years ago and started actively working on this project six months ago, initially going 'live' in December 2012.
"This technology was developed on evidence-based care and allows us to provide patients the right care at the right time," said Kim Sieck, RN, operations director of Alegent Creighton Health eICU program. "Our veteran eICU staff can watch the vital signs of these patients and immediately alert the nurses and physicians on-site to condition changes. This high-quality, attentive care has proved to shorten the length of stay and lower costs for patients."
Dennis Edwards, M.D., vice president of medical affairs for Good Samaritan Hospital, believes his hospital will see similar outcomes. "In incorporating the eICU concept into our critical care unit, we are working to meet the evolving standard of having a continuous presence of an intensivist in our ICU. We expect this to not only decrease mortality and shorten our length of stay, but to improve both patient and staff satisfaction, as well."
Since July 2007, Alegent Creighton Health has been using computers, advanced technology, critical care nurses and a highly trained physician to closely monitor more than 30,000 ICU patients from an off-site location. The eFocus Monitoring Center, located near Alegent Creighton Health Lakeside Hospital, is staffed 24 hours a day by the multidisciplinary critical care team.
Doctors and nurses in Omaha monitor vital signs, medications, blood test results, X-rays and other information with powerful computer systems showing real-time information via private, high-speed data lines. Special cameras located in each ICU patient room helps the eICU medical team examine patients and talk directly with the staff caring for the patient.
Alegent Creighton Health is using the technology in 12 hospitals, including:
- Five Alegent Creighton Health metro Omaha hospitals - Bergan Mercy Medical Center, Immanuel Medical Center, Lakeside Hospital, Mercy Hospital and Midlands Hospital
- Three Alegent Creighton Health regional hospitals - Memorial Hospital in Schuyler, Mercy Hospital in Missouri Valley and Mercy Hospital in Corning
- Three additional hospitals in Nebraska - Memorial Community Hospital & Health System in Blair, St. Francis Memorial Hospital in West Point and Fremont Area Medical Center
"We are very pleased to be able to share our eICU technology with Good Samaritan - a fellow CHI hospital," said Richard A. Hachten II, president and CEO of Alegent Creighton Health. "We have a common Mission to provide high-quality, compassionate care to our patients and this state-of-the-art technology allows both of us to provide the best possible outcomes to critical care patients."
Alegent Creighton Health
With a commitment to providing high-quality care and an exceptional patient experience, Alegent Creighton Health physicians and employees are focused on caring for the body, mind and spirit of every person. Patients find a continuum of care at Alegent Creighton Health, from primary care through geriatrics. Sponsored by Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI), Alegent Creighton Health is the largest not-for-profit, faith-based healthcare provider in Nebraska and southwest Iowa with 11 acute care hospitals, a specialty spine hospital, freestanding inpatient psychiatric and skilled nursing facilities and more than 100 Alegent Creighton Clinic locations. As the primary teaching partner of Creighton University's health sciences schools, Alegent Creighton Health and Alegent Creighton Clinic are committed to teaching the health professionals of the future. For more information about Alegent Creighton Health, visit AlegentCreighton.com.
Good Samaritan Hospital
Established by the Sisters of Saint Francis in 1924, Good Samaritan Hospital is a 268-bed regional referral center in Kearney, Nebraska. A member of Catholic Health Initiatives, Good Samaritan provides specialty care to more than 350,000 residents of central Nebraska and northern Kansas. Good Samaritan boasts Nebraska's first accredited Chest Pain Center, advanced orthopedic care, comprehensive neurosurgery and a nationally accredited cancer center among its many unique tertiary care services. Good Samaritan Hospital is Level II trauma center as verified by the American College of Surgeons. It is also the region's trauma center, so designated by the Nebraska statewide trauma system through the State of Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
In the spirit of its founders, Good Samaritan serves not only as a medical facility, but also as a community partner. Good Samaritan is called by its core values of reverence, integrity, compassion and excellence to devote funding and resources to programs and services that benefit the health of the greater community.
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