by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
This year will be recorded in history as a year of building for Baptist Health. It may not be that way again for a while, but that’s not to say the health care provider that’s been treating patients in North Florida since 1955 has met it’s ultimate potential.
After ground is broken for the 12-story tower to serve both adult and pediatric patients that will soon be built at the Downtown campus, there won’t be any place to put any more construction projects. At Baptist Medical Center South, construction is already underway on an eight-story tower that will add 62 inpatient beds, a 10-bed newborn intensive care unit (NICU) and 10 additional labor and delivery rooms.
Both new facilities are designed with the future in mind. Two floors at Baptist South won’t be immediately utilized. The patient rooms in the Downtown project will be adaptable to meet adult or pediatric needs. Architect Burn Sears of Atlanta-based Stanley Beaman and Sears said it’s important to design patient facilities that will be adaptable in the future.
“We don’t know what health care will be like in five to 10 years,” he said. “This is one of the more challenging projects our firm has ever taken on.”
It’s not just where patient care will be delivered in the future, it’s how and what kind as well. Baptist Health Executive Vice President and COO John Wilbanks said when Baptist Hospital first admitted patients more than 50 years ago there was no way to foresee the advances in medicine or the facilities that would administer the care.
“The administrators didn’t have a concept of what health care would be like today and expectations are that the rate of change in medical care will accelerate as time goes by,” said Wilbanks.
The slowdown in construction of new hospitals won’t slow the growth of Baptist Health in terms of meeting the medical needs of more people, added Wilbanks. A different kind of care is the wave of the future and Baptist Health is prepared to meet the need.
It was announced Sept. 2 that another Baptist Primary Care facility will open soon in St. Johns County on U.S. Hwy. 1 near County Road 210, bringing the total to 35 providers in Northeast Florida.
“We see primary care as the first access point and that’s where preventive care can be administered. Our intent is to be out in the community,” he said.
Another term for “preventive care” is “wellness programs” and Baptist Health is developing in those areas as well.
Baptist Health will soon unveil a new wellness program designed to keep people out of the hospital by helping them improve their health lifestyle and avoid illness.
“”We’re not creating a service then going out and looking for a need. The need is already there,” said Baptist Physician Services Assistant Administrator Douglas Malie. “We have 14 employers with about 8,000 employees who have already approached us about offering these services.”
Malie said the basic service will include assessing a person’s height, weight, blood pressure and cholesterol level to evaluate their risk for obesity, diabetes or cardiac disease. That’s after the participant completes a simple on-line questionnaire about their lifestyle patterns.
“Then we will follow up and develop a customized wellness program for each person,” said Malie.
He went on to describe the wellness programs as “one piece of the package” and explained that occupational health service also consists of a wide range of preventive medicine.
“We have certified trainers at work sites who can perform ergonomic analysis and risk evaluation. They train employees in strength and stretching exercises that can reduce the possibility of work-related injury,” said Malie.
Another program soon to be launched at Baptist Health is a wellness program that takes the concept to a higher level. Part of the Reid Building on the Downtown campus is currently being equipped for the “Executive Health Physical Service,” said Malie. In addition to the vital signs involved in a traditional wellness program assessment, other tests can be performed including chest X-rays, mammograms, colonoscopies and hearing and vision examinations.
“The idea is to keep executives healthy and on the job longer. Plus, we’ll have wireless Internet so the patients can do work on their laptops between tests,” he added.
“From a business standpoint we want to keep up with the medical care needs of the community, but we also understand (health care) is less a business than an essential service we all need at some time,” said Wilbanks. “We are very proud of what we have accomplished but we know there is more to be done.”
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