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St. Luke’s chief of cardiothoracic surgery Dr. Stephen Olenchock welcomes the opening of the new Cardiovascular Unit at the Bethlehem Campus. PHOTO/SLUHN
St. Luke’s expands cardiovascular unit at Bethlehem campus
Cris Collingwood//August 12, 2024//
St. Luke’s University Health Network officially opened a new, larger Cardiovascular Unit at its Bethlehem Campus Monday.
The unit, located on the third floor of the Pricilla Payne Hurd Pavilion in the hospital, admitted the first patients recovering from heart surgery on Aug. 5, SLUHN said.
The Cardiovascular Unit contains 12 critical care beds, twice as many as the prior unit on the fourth floor. Patients on the new unit are prepped for and recover from coronary bypass, heart valve and aneurysm surgeries, receiving all necessary pre- and post-surgical care there until discharge, the health care network said.
“This expanded, modern and beautiful patient-centered space will promote patients’ recovery from cardiac surgery and enable physicians and nurses on the unit to continue providing the high-quality care that has helped earn St. Luke’s accolades as one of the nation’s Top 50 heart hospitals,” Dr. Stephen Olenchock, the Cardiovascular Unit’s medical director and St. Luke’s chief of cardiothoracic surgery, said in a statement.
The renovated Cardiovascular Unit is equipped with new GE heart monitors, patient beds, TVs and furniture and has a new private, family waiting room, SLUHN said.
St. Luke’s five cardiothoracic surgeons, and their teams, complete 700 surgeries annually.
Stephanie Kunke, patient care manager on the Cardiovascular Unit, said the unit’s bedside nurses were integral to planning the updated workflow and physical renovations.
It features a “universal bed” model, which enables the same nurses to take care of a patient throughout his/her stay on the unit, from post-surgery to discharge, Kunkle said. Fifteen private medical-surgical rooms were also added to the unit where patients will convalesce prior to discharge from the hospital.
“Decentralized nurses’ stations give the nurses a better direct-line view of their patients, promoting greater continuity and quality of care throughout the patients’ stay from immediate post-op critical care to step-down and eventual discharge,” Kunkle said.
