The Tower at Ten
Ten years ago this past April,
Mary Greeley celebrated a towering achievement.
That was the day a well-coordinated team of hospital staff moved patients into our new west tower. It was a big effort and we were pleased to hear so many patients express appreciation over the layout and spaciousness of their new rooms.
My office is in the west tower. A lot happens in the proverbial C-suite, but I know the real story happens on the four floors above me.
During these first 10 years, we treated more than 75,000 patients in the west tower.
Some of them were with us because of COVID-19. Each inpatient unit on the west tower (not to mention the ICCU and ED) was impacted by the pandemic, and among the most significant was our Medical Surgical floor, which at one point saw half its beds designated for COVID-19 patients.
We kept future needs in mind when we planned the west tower. Part of that forward thinking was including an unoccupied 6th floor. It remained empty for almost 8 years. In 2020, it became home to Med Surg, which relocated from the 3rd floor, enabling us to move Birthways and Pediatrics to the west tower in 2021. This brought most of our inpatient units into the west tower. Since early April, more than 3,800 babies have been born in the west tower.
We put a lot of thought into the patient-centered design of the west tower and gathered input from the providers and clinical and nonclinical staff, as well as members of the public. Our new rooms were truly shaped by the people most involved in the process of delivering excellent patient care.
I look at the west tower with great pride, but not because of how it looks or any of its physical attributes. My pride comes from what happens within its walls: outstanding patient care delivered by a team of doctors, nurses, therapists, guest service workers, dietary workers, patient transporters, social workers, and so many others. To everyone who has received treatment in our west tower, thank you for letting us take care of you. Thank you for choosing Mary Greeley.
Brian Dieter
Here's to Nurses
This special issue of Health Connect is dedicated to the nurses of Mary Greeley. These women and men, who, alongside their co-workers, have weathered the worst (we hope) of COVID-19 and provided outstanding care for our patients.
Read the Special Issue
