A new Specialty Surgical Care area opened Jan. 9 on the third floor of John C. Lincoln North Mountain Hospital in Sunnyslope.

    The 21,350 square-foot elective surgery floor, designed by OWP Architects and built by DPR Construction, Inc. at a cost of almost $9 million, features 28 larger-than-average private rooms for elective orthopedic, neuro, spine and urology patients.

    “If you look at the overall level of care at John C. Lincoln hospitals over the years, it’s been a progressive growth,” explains Susan Fuchs, strategic media relations specialist for John C. Lincoln Health Network. “We’ve continued to try and improve the care patients receive. In this new recovery area, we’ve taken the best things from throughout the entire John C. Lincoln Health Network and put them in one place.”

The boutique hospital experience for all Specialty Surgical Care patients will begin with a personal greeter in the Main Lobby who will welcome them and make sure they can find their rooms. Personalized admission procedures will be completed in the privacy of each patient’s room, where they’ll find a gift bag of items they may need while hospitalized, courtesy of the John C. Lincoln Foundation.

    Rooms are spacious enough for family members or friends to relax while waiting for completion of their loved one’s surgery, and also offer electrical outlets for laptops, a WiFi connection, and more.

    Each room includes an individual medical records computer connection and communication stations (which will be live in August), as well as whiteboards on the wall with personalized updated info about clinical staff who are providing the patient’s care. Each room also has a gloves, mask and gown station by the door, as well as a sink and disposal area, for medical personnel use.

    Ten rooms designated for orthopedic patients are equipped with an orthopedic Liko lift that gently and safely raises patients out of bed and transports them across the room. The lift can hold up to 500 pounds, and a single nurse can operate the lift by herself without requiring additional staff assistance.

    The Specialty Surgical Care ward was a year and a half in the planning, and several medical personnel, patients, administrators and more participated in the design process. The area previously housed the Birthing Center, which was shuttered in February 2011.