Hospitals' focus now all about patients
Check into the new Sherman Hospital in Elgin in 2009, and your room will have a view overlooking a scenic, 15-acre geothermal lake that will help cool and heat the $310 million facility.
And, like the other 254 rooms, it will be private.
More and more hospitals are embracing a patient-centered approach, and Sherman Health is one of them.
Linda Deering, Sherman chief operating officer, said the medical staff has added several programs -- such as pet therapy and flexible meal hours -- at its existing facility.
Larger changes, like all private patient rooms with natural light, take more time, and sometimes a new building.
"It's not as simple as some folks think," Deering said, adding many hospitals were built decades ago with double-occupancy rooms when medicine was entrenched in an industrial-thinking, one-size-fits-all approach.
Sherman officials have studied several patient-centered models, including Planetree, and hope to make a decision within six months.
"It's definitely something we're going to do here," she said. "Patient-centered care is our driving philosophy."
St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin and Mercy Center in Aurora also have had numerous patient initiatives in place.
"We look at it more as a philosophy of care as opposed to a specific model," said Alex Bacchetti, regional vice president for planning and business development for Provena's northern Illinois regional, which includes the two hospitals. "Everything we do puts the patient at the center."
Some examples include:
• "Care Pages," in which patient's family members and friends use a password to view a customized Web page that has updates and reflections from the patient.
"It's like your own personal blog for family and friends," Bachetti said.
• Flexible meal hours for patients.
• When nurses change shifts, they both visit the patient to let them know someone else will be making rounds.
• A $97 million expansion at Provena St. Joseph began in late 2005. When completed in spring 2009, the hospital will have 139 private rooms.
Bachetti said Mercy officials are studying a shift to all private rooms, but no decision has been made.