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The program was funded by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN). Not only did these nurses learn a numerous of leadership and innovative techniques, but the hospitals also are expected to save almost $4.5 million yearly through their nurses new practices. The mantra of the leadership program, officially called the AACN Clinical Scene Investigator Academy, is to empower bedside nurses as leaders as well as overall improvers of patient care. It is also the only leadership program where the hospital receives the proper scholarly programming as well as numerous grant funds for the implementation of the program.

The AACN noticed several different successes highlighted by the nurses who experienced the 16-month class. Some of them include a decrease in catheter urinary tract infections, central line-associated bloodstream infections, tracheostomy tubes needed and average length of stay in the ICU, to name a few.

”[The academy] provides frontline nurses with the knowledge and tools for improving the quality and cost of care,” said Diana Mason, the president of the American Academy of Nursing, said in a statement. “It teaches nurses how to make the business case for specific approaches to improving patients’ experiences with care, improving clinical outcomes and reducing costs.”

Chief nursing officers in hospitals around the country are already noticing several aspects to the program and are intrigued by the benefits and costs of it. Thomas Smith, the CNO at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., has seen the impact of nurses who have completed the program. “The nurse-led initiatives developed by AACN CSI Academy participants are an outstanding example of how we can advance our work and practice environments to support improvements in patient care,” Smith said in a statement.

The New York team is the sixth contingent to participate in the program, as hospitals from Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas have all sent nurses to this month program. Hospitals around the Seattle area are also involved. A total of 200 nurses and 49 hospitals are participating.
AACN is also providing an online database with practices, innovations, references and other resources, allowing the spread of various techniques in order to spur innovative care in hospitals. With the spread of online resources, as well as the appraisal for the program by several officials, the AACN expects that the CSI Academy will become the primary resource for proper techniques to be utilized by nurses around the country, and internationally. AACN has invested more than $1 million in the project.

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According to an inaugural report from healthcare real estate data service Revista that was released May 20 during a launch event in Boston, there are 66 health care construction projects in the Northeast alone, and Revista is planning on releasing more market data in the coming months.

“The level of healthcare real estate construction activity seen in the Northeast bodes well for the rest of the country,” Mike Hargrave, one of Revista’s founding principals, said at the Boston event. “Although we don’t have national data yet, we would not be surprised to see similar levels of activity in other parts of the nation.”

Highlights of the report include the following:
• There are a large number of medical facilities in the Northeast, including 473 general acute care hospitals, 4,491 medical office buildings (MOBs) and 2,105 other health care buildings.
• Most medical facilities in the region are affiliated with a health system. Forty-four percent of MOBs are affiliated with a hospital, 36 percent of MOBs are affiliated with a health system and 68 percent of hospitals are affiliated with a health system.
• Construction of health care facilities in the Northeast is going strong. This includes 43 MOB/outpatient facility projects totaling more than 4.35 million square feet with a total value of almost $2.9 billion, and 23 hospital/inpatient projects totaling more than 4.5 million square feet with a total value of more than $5 billion.

By the Numbers: Hospitals Being Built or in Late Planning Stages
• Connecticut – four projects, 1.34 million total square feet, $1.081 billion approximate value

• Massachusetts – seven projects, 641,543 square feet, $555 million

• Maine – two projects, 401,000 total square feet, $287 million

• New York – 10 projects, 2.17 million total square feet, $3.09 billion


By the Numbers: Medical Office Buildings Under Construction or in Late Planning Stages
• Connecticut – nine projects, 708,139 total square feet, $464 million approximate value
 • Massachusetts – 11 projects, 756,263 total square feet, $595 million

• Maine – five projects, 398,700 total square feet, $50 million

• New Hampshire – two projects, 190,974 total square feet, $124 million

• New York – 16 projects, 2.3 million square feet, $1.65 billion


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The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Josie Robertson Surgery Center will be a new 16-story, 179,000-square-foot building constructed on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Designed by the architectural firm Perkins Eastman, it will feature 12 operating rooms equipped to provide technologically advanced surgical care on an outpatient basis. The facility is scheduled for completion in 2015.

The center will include an ambulatory surgery extension with 12 operating rooms, a pre-surgical assessment are with 18 observation beds, and a 28-bed unit for post-anesthesia care and extended-stay recovery.

The observation beds are for stays up to 23 hours and will not alter the number of beds the center is licensed to provide. The surgery center is intended to free up capacity at the main hospital. Sloan-Kettering estimates that the new center will handle 6,393 patient visits within the first year and will accommodate 8,304 visits by the third year.

A $50 million commitment in funding has come from the Robertson Foundation, with the rest coming from other philanthropic sources, as well as some institutional funds.

“We are deeply grateful to The Robertson Foundation and the entire Robertson family. By supporting initiatives that focus on high-quality cancer treatment as well as today’s most creative research, the foundation has provided the means to honor Josie Robertson in a way that goes to the heart of this institution’s mission,” said Craig B. Thompson, President of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in a statement.

In addition, the Robertson Foundation is also creating the Josie Robertson Investigator Program, which will support the recruitment of young physicians and scientists. People who early in their careers, have attained significant insights into cancer and devised groundbreaking approaches to prevention and treatment will be targeted for the program.

Josie Robertson was elected to Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s Board of Overseers in 2004. Prior to her death in 2010, she worked with her husband, investor Julian H. Robertson, to support a range of causes in education, medical research, and other areas.

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The RHIOs include Brooklyn Health Information Exchange, e-Health Network of Long Island, and THINC, and the HIE vendors of HealthUnity, IBM, and InterSystems, have each formally joined forces with NYeC to facilitate HIE across New York’s downstate region — comprised of New York City’s five boroughs, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley and with a combined population of 13 million.

This collaboration represents a significant step in that it formalizes the creation of a single, unified statewide network for health care records. The SHIN-NY is coordinated by NYeC and will unify existing state HIE initiatives, such as within hospital systems and local RHIOs, making electronic health records secure and accessible to health care providers statewide — improving patient care and lowering costs.

New York has long been a leader in health IT investment and implementation, said New York State Health Commissioner Nirav R. Shah, M.D., M.P.H. The announcement is the next step in the creation of a robust 21st century health care system that will better serve the people of New York, he said.

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Seesmart’s retrofit replaced nearly 700 fixtures at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. By switching from fluorescent T8s and T12s to Seesmart T8s in the facility’s parking garage, the hospital’s energy cost was reduced by almost 57 percent.

The center also slashed its energy consumption by 160,000 kWh annually, which allowed for the hospital to receive a $22,000 rebate from energy company Con Edison. The center anticipates a full return on its investment within two years.

“The return on investment for this project will come not just from the $2,500 per month in energy savings, but also from lower maintenance costs and less facility waste,” said Kenneth Ames, CEO of Seesmart Technologies.

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The hospital features 65 private rooms and is designed to be energy efficient and promote green operations. The new hospital will replace the outdated Denison Parkway facility, built in the early 1900s.

“This project truly represents a new era in patient care for the residents of the region,” said Shirley Magana, president of the Hospital.

When open in summer of 2014, patients will benefit from an integrated campus designed for efficient delivery of quality care and increased outpatient services, according to officials.

The Guthrie Cancer Center Corning location will be on the first floor of the new hospital with a separate entrance for patients. The campus will also include an efficient emergency department with 18 treatment areas and an on-site helipad to quickly facilitate trauma patients or transfers.

Gilbane-Welliver is responsible for pre-construction and construction management services for the new hospital.

Hammes Co. will serve as the owner representative for the project with Gould Turner Group serving as the designer. Smith Seckman Reid Inc. (SSR), with Hunt Architecture, engineering and land surveyors, as the civil engineer, are responsible for the MEP engineering.

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When Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, N.Y., a part of the Ellis Medicine health care system, faced vehicle exhaust emissions entering through fresh air intakes, administrators sought out a solution to the challenge.

The existing six-story facility, which was rebuilt in 2010, includes a fresh air intake under a covered area that serves a primary pick-up and drop-off point for patients entering and leaving the facility.

The intake supplies fresh air to a 30,000 cfm air handling unit which serves several areas within the Ellis Medicine-owned hospital.

In spite of signs urging visitors not to idle by the entrance, patients and staff complained about the vehicle exhaust odors, with the most complaints coming in during the winter months. Patient comfort and wellness were also concerns, according to the hospital staff.

To address the issue, the hospital installed Dynamic V8 air cleaning systems in the air handling unit to filter indoor return air and incoming ventilation air.

The systems eliminated the odors and the complaints, and also feature a longer filter service life.

Prior to the installation of the systems, hospital maintenance personnel were replacing two-inch passive pleated filters every few months. The Dynamic V8 Air Cleaner replacement media will not require replacing for years instead of months, according to the company.

Based on the success of the installations, the hospital plans to install more cleaners.

Latham, N.Y.-based Trane served as the consultant and mechanical systems provider on the project, with Albany-based Colonie as the mechanical contractor and Darren Schaperjahn, the hospital’s in-house facility manager, as the utility manager.

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