Most people associate the term “hybrid” with vehicles with two or more power sources. But the word is also being used in reference to a growing number of high-tech hospital operating rooms, including two new suites that Memorial Hospital of South Bend recently completed.
Hybrid Operating Room featuring Skytron LED Surgical Lights & Skytron Equipment Booms with the Siemens Zeego Imaging System
Memorial invested about $7.5 million in the two hybrid operating suites that include a myriad of advanced devices and technologies for local surgical patients and the doctors and specialists treating them. The equipment in the room includes LED surgical lights from SKYTRON which will help the surgeons to visualize the surgical field better than ever before. In addition, advanced surgical equipment booms and video monitors from SKYTRON help to make the surgical procedures more efficient and safe for the patients and staff.
“Other hospitals might build hybrid operating suites them in their cardiac cath lab or radiology department, but we’re the first in the area to have hybrid operating suites integrated in the operating room,” Jayne Mitton, a registered nurse and executive director of Memorial’s surgical and trauma services, said Monday.
The hybrid suites eliminate the need — in most cases — to transfer patients to different areas of the hospital. Instead, patients receive all of their care in the same room, which can reduce the risk of infection and shorten hospital stays, Mitton said.
The new hybrid surgical suites will allow doctors to treat stroke patients and allow surgeons to repair brain or aortic aneurysms. Vascular and neurological surgeries as well as cardiac catheterizations and open—heart surgery can be performed in the 1,157- and 1,205-square-foot operating rooms.
Hybrid Operating Room featuring Skytron LED Surgical Lights & Skytron Equipment Booms with the Siemens Zeego Imaging System
The new suites are located in space the hospital had constructed in 2009 and reserved for future expansion. The rooms are at least 300 square feet larger than the required minimum size for hybrid suites in order to provide space for floor- and ceiling-mounted robotic systems that hold equipment.
It has taken more than 18 months to plan for the hybrid suites. Cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, interventional radiologists, general, trauma and neurosurgeons and anesthesiologists were involved in the lengthy process, which included travel to other hospital properties to see equipment options and make decisions. The travel took hospital staff to cities including Indianapolis, Chicago, Cleveland and Denver. Equipment consultants from SKYTRON and Siemens were also integral in planning for the placements of the advanced surgical systems in the operating rooms as well.
Rather than replace any existing operating rooms, the new operating suites will allow surgeons additional space to perform new and more advanced procedures, including more minimally invasive procedures, she said.
“We’ll be able to upgrade the new suites as needed in the future,” she added, “while we plan to use the existing ORs for more orthopedic cases and general surgeries.”
J.M. Keckler Medical Company
Hybrid Operating Room Design & Equipment Consultants
1.800.523.1010