Bellevue Hospital's 'Quality Care Close to Home' gets national attention

The Bellevue Hospital was named one of the Top 100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare for 2008 by Modern Healthcare Magazine. Other honors in 2008 included being ranked in the top 5% nationally on Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers (HCAHPS) by Press Ganey, and the Home Health Agency ranked in the top 25% nationally by HomeCare Elite.

The Bellevue Hospital begins its 92nd year of caring on March 16, 2009, the anniversary of when the original hospital opened its doors at 811 Northwest Street.

Today, the hospital serves a four-county area from its 1400 W. Main Street location. Located on 109 acres of property, The "New" Bellevue Hospital opened its doors on March 13, 2005 after a $36 million construction project was completed. Ground was broken for the new facility on June 27, 2003.

The new facility sits at the junction of U.S. 20 West and York Township Road 302. The new facility encompasses 129,000 square feet, a vast increase over the original facility's 88,000 square feet. The new facility increased the number of inpatient beds from 65 to 85, an increase of 31%.

Each of the Medical/Surgical Floor patient rooms are private, complete with private bathrooms/showers and family areas with couch beds. Each room is individually temperature controlled and all rooms have windows with an outside view. Additionally, each room is handicapped accessible.

Another new feature of the facility is the hydrotherapy pool in the Rehabilitation Services Department. The HydroWorx 1000 aquatic rehab and fitness pool features a variable speed underwater treadmill and powerful water jets to provide for deep tissue massage and resistance training. The therapist can also adjust the water level and water temperature for each patient, and underwater cameras will record the range of motion and diagnostic capacity of each patient.

Other highlights, by department, include:

* A public and employee dining area that seats 98.

* A walk-up service window in the Health Information Management department for ease and privacy in obtaining copies of medical records.

* A centrally located atrium area from which all hospital services can be accessed. This area contains public elevators, restrooms and drinking fountains, the hospital Gift Shop, the Concierge Desk for information, and a coffee cart and snack area. The atrium design was inspired by the works of Frank Lloyd Wright.

* Private registration rooms to register patients, and wireless in-room registration throughout the hospital.

* An expanded and reorganized Laboratory Department with larger blood bank and microbiology areas.

* A new Women's Diagnostic Area that consolidates all of the hospital's women's diagnostic services into one area, including stereotactic breast biopsy, bone dexa scans, mammography and ultrasounds.

* A 50% increase in space of the Diagnostic Imaging Department, complete with a Toshiba 1.5 Tesla magnet MRI machine and a 16-slice Toshiba CAT Scan unit. Recently, the department added a Siemens 1.5 Tesla Large OPEN Bore MRI unit.

* A filmless Picture Archive Communication System (PACS) in Diagnostic Imaging where physicians have the ability to get instant pictures on their computer screens during procedures involving X-rays and scans.

* University Medical Center of Toledo cardiologists are on-site to oversee the Cardiac Rehab and Cardiopulmonary areas of the hospital.

* The Emergency Department area includes a separate entrance area for ambulance/EMS crews to enhance patient privacy and confidentiality, and an Occupational Health Center area with a separate registration area for workers injured while at their place of employment.

* The surgery area features four main surgical suites and two smaller surgical procedure rooms, all with equipment booms to help eliminate cords on the floor. Surgeons also have the ability to pull up X-ray and scanned images on in-room computers during surgical procedures, thanks to the new PACS system.

* The Family Birthing Center includes nine labor-delivery-recovery-post partum rooms, each complete with family areas and sofa beds, windows with an outside view, and whirlpool tubs in the private, ADA-accessible bathrooms.

* The Pharmacy Department includes a sterile IV room using the latest industry design guidelines. And, in departments throughout the hospital, there are automated medication cabinets that allow for safety and security of medications for patients.

The hospital is accredited by: The Joint Commission; The Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons - Cancer Program; Mammography Quality Sandards Act - Mammography Program; American College of Radiology - Diagnostic Imaging in Obstetrics, Gynecological and General Ultrasound, CT Scan, and MRI; and the Ohio Department of Health - Nuclear Medicine.

Hospital certifications include: American Diabetes Association - Diabetes Self Management Education; and American Association of Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Rehabilitation - Cardiac Rehab Program.

There are 52 different physicians on TBH's active medical staff, while 67 others are members of the courtesy staff. Combined, these physicians represent 35 specialties. The Bellevue Hospital is a not-for-profit facility that was incorporated in 1914 and opened it doors in 1917. The original facility contained 24 patient beds and nine bassinets.