Perfectly Balancing Treatment Delivery & Patient Comfort

Thanks to our generous supporters, Regional One Health Foundation recently helped provide funding to consolidate and improve our healthcare system’s infusion services.

Imagine receiving a blood transfusion or antibiotics sitting in an uncomfortable chair with just a blanket to stay warm as a TV broadcasts one snowy program for the whole room.

Infusion patients could find themselves facing this scenario for stretches of time that can last as long as eight uncomfortable hours.

But what if, in designing a new space, the needs of those patients are the number-one priority, even including them in the early planning stages? Regional One Health’s new infusion suite, which opened late this winter, involved the people who would experience its services in the most intimate way.

Infusion patients are dealing with a variety of issues. It can be an accident victim in need of a blood transfusion, gastrointestinal patients receiving IVs or an HIV patient taking medications.

They are patients dealing with chronic illnesses that often require weekly or monthly treatments through medications that are given intravenously. And they often must sit in a room with other patients for hours at a time to receive treatment.

Susan Cooper, Senior Vice President/Chief Integration Officer at Regional One Health, led the initiative to consolidate infusion services into a specialized center. She and the rest of her project team took a unique approach by involving infusion patients in the process.

What resulted from those discussions is Regional One Health’s new state-of-the-art infusion suite, a major upgrade with plenty of comfort and all the technological bells and whistles to offer patients a more comfortable experience.

“THIS WAS ABOUT EVERYONE COMING TOGETHER TO REALLY DELIVER ON A VISION OF WHAT COULD BE. WHAT WE’VE CREATED HERE IS TRULY SOMETHING SPECIAL.” – SUSAN COOPER

The infusion suite has 14 individual bays and one private room, all equipped with individual TVs, Apple TV devices and Sound Dome directional speakers that isolate the sound from those TVs to the patients’ viewing areas.

Comfort is also provided with specially designed chairs that were voted on and selected by patients. Each fully reclining chair has its own heater and massage capabilities.

“The care and concern that went into the completion of this project, from the person doing the wiring to the person installing the floor to the lights and furniture design, permeated that whole process,” Susan says. “This was about everyone coming together to really deliver on a vision of what could be. What we’ve created here is truly something special.”

To schedule a tour of Regional One Health, including the new infusion suite, please contact one of our Foundation team members at 901-545-6006.

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