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New OR named for Surgery chairman by Cindy Abole Public Relations As building of the first phase of MUSC’s new replacement hospital remains ahead of schedule, details of some of the facilities’ features reveal a sophisticated and well-planned patient care environment. It mixes the best of high technology and quality patient care.   An important part of the four-story diagnostic and treatment building  and seven-story patient hospitality tower and central energy plant is the planning and construction of the innovative, technologically-advanced operating room (OR) suite.   The project features nine operating rooms, which will be located in the diagnostic and treatment facility, and integrated to accommodate information technology systems and other specialized equipment used for vascular surgery.   The endeavor is complex and comparable to the stage-by-stage construction of the Lowcountry’s replacement to the Grace and Pearman bridges, with the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge.   Dr. Fred Crawford  It is the brainchild of a team of operating room specialists led by Surgery Chairman Fred Crawford, M.D., John Waller, M.D., director of medical informatics in the Office of the Chief Information Officer and professor of anesthesiology and perioperative medicine, and Karen Weaver, R.N., director of Surgery, Women and Infant Services.      Last spring, Crawford was honored with a motion by MUSC Board of Trustee member Melvyn Berlinsky and backing by fellow trustees to name the first phase of the replacement hospital’s OR suite after Crawford. The action celebrates Crawford for his dedication and commitment to clinical care excellence, service and education at MUSC.     “MUSC is doing things right by coordinating some advance planning as developers construct our new replacement hospital,” said Crawford,  who also is the Horace G. Smithy Professor and chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery. “It’s true that state-of-the-art medical facilities soon become obsolete once they open their doors. It will be our challenge to stay ahead of the curve by continually focusing our attention to technology details, staff training and updates.”      Crawford’s interest in such an endeavor was piqued after reading about the success of colleague James Atkinson, M.D., chief of pediatric and general surgery, and his work at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center. Atkinson was involved in the development and planning of 29 new integrated ORs at UCLA’s new hospital construction. The story was featured in the December 2004 issue of Materials Management in Health Care magazine.   The article highlights surgery’s changing trends due to the advent of technology. Instead of ORs being just the clean, sterile locations in which to perform operating procedures, they have evolved into high-tech facilities that showcase new tools, computer systems and digital equipment. These accommodate the more complex surgeries that are performed, as the need for sophisticated equipment emerges in today’s integrated OR.   At MUSC, the project succeeds thanks to a special partnership between MUSC and OR vendors Karl Storz Endoscopy-America and Charleston-based Berchtold Corp. Storz manufacturers laproscopic and video imaging equipment and OR lighting systems while Berchtold is known for designing OR booms and monitors. Project coordinators also consulted with a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, technicians, plus biomedicine and information technology support staff in making this a reality.      The impetus for Crawford and the team was to work with project architects in creating a high-tech OR using a flexible yet accommodating design that could meet the project’s overall mission of improving quality patient care within an optimum setting while maintaining patient safety. In addition, the facility will provide a dynamic teaching and learning environment that could be used in conjunction with clinical simulated learning in the College of Health Professions.   “Somehow, we always knew that with the new hospital project, we would have an opportunity to contribute to the design of a state-of-the-art facility and we went forward with that plan and found support,” said Weaver.   The team was able to test the technology for themselves in April through the creation of a working version of a small scale integrated OR redesigned within the existing main OR suite. Working with Storz and Berchtold designers and technicians, planners renovated OR-7.      Inside, the room basks in green fluorescent lighting, which helps to enhance the images displayed on the flat-screen color monitors and video screens. Cameras and support equipment are mounted on a sophisticated boom and track system.   Aside from this equipment, the room is sparse and features an auto-integrated control console that allows a circulating nurse or physician  to switch viewing between recorded digital images to X-ray and other test results to live patient footage. Another achievement for surgeons and staff is the integration of equipment and systems to control room temperature at the touch of a button. OR teams representing anesthesia, surgery and nursing already are training in this facility to help ease the transition from old to new OR locations. As an extra component the OR staff is encouraged to regularly contribute ideas, suggestions or record issues in a log book to improve the design or protocol of using equipment.   “It became obvious to all of us that creating these mock ORs is extremely important,” Crawford said. “Moving from the current OR to the new one will be very different for staff and posed a potential for staff downtime due to lack of training or familiarization with equipment. Now we can expect an easier transition for staff and getting this accomplished early was a positive move that benefits the project.”     Friday, Aug. 18, 2006 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.