EvergreenHealth opened a new Progressive Care Unit (PCU) on the health system’s Kirkland campus as part of the first phase of a 10-year master facility plan to grow to meet the community’s evolving health care needs. The hopsital serves all of Northshore, including Kenmore and Bothell residents. The new PCU, located on the fourth floor of the hospital’s Silver tower, adds 31 inpatient rooms equipped with advanced patient-care technology and innovative design.

The opening of the fourth-floor PCU will be followed later this spring by the addition of a 31-bed cardiovascular and neurovascular unit on the Silver tower’s fifth floor, as well.

“The opening of these floors comes as our community’s need for additional inpatient capacity is growing. We are eager to meet this demand with new patient-focused state-of-the-art technology, design and construction,” said EvergreenHealth CEO Bob Malte. “These new floors were made possible by the foresight of our Board more than 10 years ago, and are the product of thoughtful and innovative design based on valuable feedback from patients, frontline staff and our medical and nursing leadership.”

EvergreenHealth began construction on the new floors in June 2016 as part of a strategic plan to develop existing shelled space in the Silver tower, which was first constructed in 2007. The eight-story tower opened with five complete floors and retained shelled space on three additional floors to be developed at a later date in response to anticipated growth and demand.

Today, the new PCU combines the highest standards of care with exemplary patient-experience and comfort amenities to create an environment of care that promotes well-being, service and safety for both patients and caregivers.

The open floor-plan and high ceilings provide caregivers increased visibility and help prevent distracting sounds from reaching patient rooms. Controlled LED lighting offers pleasant light levels throughout the entire floor, while circadian lighting located above the nurses’ stations transitions between optimal day and night lighting to promote health and well-being for all, and particularly those who work during the nighttime hours.

Patient rooms feature call lights located in patient pillows for easy access, a locked medication box and personal safe at bedside to secure medications and valuables brought from home, and space-saving sliding glass doors with whiteboards for family, patient and caregiver communication. The floor also features a private visitor nook with a bed, reading light, and USB wall charger.

Other features include:

• Pass-through cabinets at the entrance of each patient room which stock the most-used items in a centrally located area.
• Ceiling lifts capable of raising up to 1,000 pounds, which eliminate the need to manually lift patients and reduces the risk of injuries to caregivers.
• Stationary telemetry monitors in each room that are programmed to alert caregivers of critical changes in a patient’s condition.
• Label printers in each room to ensure accurate specimen and medication labeling at bedside.

In addition to the opening of the Silver tower’s fourth and fifth floors, EvergreenHealth’s master facility plan provides a long-range blueprint for future growth including the build out of additional floors in its DeYoung Pavilion to create an integrated center for EvergreenHealth’s musculoskeletal and orthopedic service lines by summer 2017, the expansion and relocation of the organization’s primary care practice in Kenmore, plus a new primary care practice location in Mill Creek.

For more information about EvergreenHealth’s commitment to quality, safety and exceptional care, and to view a video tour of the new PCU, visit evergreenhealth.com/pcu.