St. Charles-Bend to open new admitting area
Starting Monday, patients at St. Charles Medical Center-Bend will walk through the front doors of the hospital and be greeted by a private waiting room where they can easily register for surgery, pre-surgery appointments, medical diagnostic services, ultrasounds, X-rays, nuclear medicine exams, infusions and more.
The new main patient registration area is opening to the public, and members of the patient access team believe the new space will give patients greater comfort and privacy while also making their work more efficient.
“I have been here for 21 years,” said Nancy Bamer, supervisor of patient access at St. Charles Bend. “In our old space, we would often have patients and their families in the hallway, because we had nowhere else for them to go. This is going to be such an amazing improvement.”
Bernie Andreotti, manager of patient access, and her team of caregivers worked closely with the designers of the new space to ensure that it would function well.
Each of the five patient registration areas will have its own printer, scanner and arm bands so the registration clerks have everything they need at their fingertips.
A large work area with a wide counter was also included in the plans to provide enough space for the team to easily put together patient charts.
In addition to the registration area, a private space has been built where patients can pay their bills or meet with a financial counselor.
Nurses have space to call surgery patients to prepare them for their visit, and four pre-surgery consult rooms are included in the first phase of the project. The second phase, which should be completed in September, includes additional pre-surgery consult rooms.
As part of phases two and three, work will also be conducted in the existing medical records space to provide a medical staff lounge and study space.
Medical Staff Services will be relocated to the current Main Admitting area. Some of the Corner Deli tables will move into an alcove, with windows looking out on the courtyard.
“We are so excited to finally be able to offer our patients the privacy and comfort they deserve when they register for our services,” Andreotti said. “This new space will help us meet our HIPAA requirements and will also greatly improve the health care experience for our patients.”
St. Charles would like to thank architects ZGF from Portland and Steele Associates Architects from Bend, along with general contractor Skanska for their work on the project.
