St. Joseph Hospital Cardiovascular Surgery Department Appeal SJH hardly needs an introduction to the community of Orange County. Our Cardiac Care and Vascular surgery programs are a magnet for talented staff, and a ray of hope for those who require caring, patientcentric intervention for serious cardiac issues. SJH Cardiovascular is performing at the apex of a complex, highly technical, capital in tensive, and competitive field. We render worldclass care to those in need of compas sionate healing and superior technical expertise. The department is, however, at the margin of saturating our current planned capacity and physical resources, and we are compelled to take action in order to create the next major level of service that will exceed even our lofty standards. This communication is directed to our philanthropic network and the community at large; we have tried to assemble a coherent and comprehensive summary, distilled from volu minous plans, consulting sources, and detailed financial models that have guided SJH in creating a vision for architecting the next phase of excellence in Cardiac care at SJH. This ongoing development will require participation from a community of current and new donors that share in our vision of SJH’s continuing excellence. Today at SJH Cardiovascular We are a leader in providing quality cardiovascular services to the community. SJH is recognized for qualityofcare outcomes, and has the highest ratings for patient and physician satisfaction. The cardiovascular program at SJH is a vital national and community health resource with an impressive legacy of accomplishments joined to the august heritage of Saint Joseph’s approach of values first patient care. The department is working at the summit of cardiac care and performing with distinction among its few peers in the nation. SHJ is the only facility in OC with the advanced expertise to render care for adults with congenital heart defects, and has been recognized by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons
as a Three Star facility, placing SJH in the top 12% of high performing cardiovascular programs. SJH cardiovascular services encompass the broadest possible portfolio of cardiac medi cine each practice is a center of excellence providing the complete spectrum of care. SJH is a worldclass center for pediatric cardiology, valve replacement, and vascular surgery. The department assists other surgical centers with specialist support for vascu lar trauma and reconstruction in stroke patients. SJH Cardiology is continually innovat ing and refining its model of superior community service, including the SJH Women’s Center for Cardiac health.
Current Facilities: SJH is a fullservice, 412bed acute care, general hospital, part of the St. Joseph Health System, with an established regional reputation for excellence in cardiac and vascular services. The St. Joseph Cardiac and Vascular Service Line provides a broad spectrum of comprehensive cardiac and vascular care ranging from diagnosis, treatment and pre vention to research and education. As part of its ongoing physical plant development, SJH is constructing a new patient care tower where the majority of its inpatient beds will be relocatedfrom the existing Hospital. This will free up space in the original building for the development of a consol idated, “program floor” for cardiac and vascular services. The cardiac services unit at SJH is the only clinical service line that can deliver on the promise of true ROI that will substantially increase the hospital’s revenue base. Achiev ing this potential is predicated on expanding the physical and technical capacities of the department, consolidating logistics such as patient transport, and overcoming operation al impediments. Ongoing Projects Never content to sit still, the SH cardiovascular practice has a number of ongoing pro jects:
In the past year, the SJH Cardiac and Vascular Service Line has embarked upon estab lishing a number of new initiatives. These include: – The Adult Congenital Heart Disease program; – Expanded screening services for PAD and other forms of CV disease; – Expansion of the CHF program; – Planning for integrating advanced CV imaging modalities into the service line such as cardiac CTA and cardiac MRI; – Promotion of the Women’s Heart program; – The initial planning for the hybrid OR; – Other areas of evaluation and planning.
Looking Toward the Future: SJH is the best cardiac program in OC, and one of the best in the country. It is a con sistently desirable career destination for doctors, nurses, and technical staff. SJH con tinually compiles a growing list of accolades and rewards granted by the top medical so cieties, patient ratings organizations, and professional standards bodies. SJH has a history of capitalizing on best practices and applying cutting edge technolo gies that have proven to elevate the level of cardiac care for our clients. The following us a just a sample of firsts for the SJH Cardiovascular practice: 1.1963 First open heart surgery in Orange County / First Pacemaker implantation on West Coast 2.1966 First Cardiac Care Unit in Orange County 3.1995 First Cardiac Stent Procedure in Orange County 4. 2002 First Women’s health center in Orange County 5.2003 First Aqueous Oxygen procedure for acute heart in Orange County 6.2003 First Digital Pacemaker Implant in Orange County
7.Awarded Health Grades 5 Star ratings for Obstetrics and Women’s Cardiac and Stroke Services 8.First robotic cardiac assisted procedure in Orange County 9.Numerous awards for nursing excellence and top ratings, including the Baptist Healing Trust’s “Healing Hospital” designation One of only ten such institutional awards granted in the United States
While occupying this coveted position among cardiac care facilities, SJH needs to ad dress foreseeable issues that will potentially limit the institution’s growth and its ability to attract the best medical talent. Not content to rest on our many aforementioned achieve ments and milestones, SJH is poised to to take the next step in creating the next level in worldclass cardiac care. The vision for this project is to create a comprehensive cardiovascular institute and cen ter of excellence in which diagnostics, interventional medicine, therapeutics, and surgic al cardiovascular services reside in a contiguous space. This new facility will be optim ized to leverage professional resources and provide superior patient care. Better facilities and access to leading technology is a critical factor in successfully re cruiting the best physicians, and to further enhance SJH as a referring cardiologist’s hospital of choice. Presently, it is accepted that the current physical plant provides care at the top percent ile of medical industry metrics for objective measurement of outcomes. By executing the current plan for the expansion of the programs, technology, and integration of the phys ical facilities, SJH will ensure that the constituency of patients and staff will enjoy this leadership for years to come.´ A SJH Physician’s Perspective on Cardiac Unit Improvements, New Techniques, and Technology
The program of planned improvements to SJH Cardiology is significant. While the archi tectural improvements are the most visible aspect of the planned capacity improve ments, upgrades to the medical technology used in cardiac diagnostics and surgical methods are also slated for major capital improvements. The best way to illustrate the enthusiasm for these new technologies is through the words of Doctor Richard Gates, a 12 year veteran in the SJH Cardiac department. Dr. Gates is looking forward to the planned improvements that will feature Hybrid Oper ating Rooms a combination of Catheter Lab and Realtime, radiology guided operating room. These facilities enable the cardiologist and cardiac surgeon to work together, in real time. By using these new hybrid procedures, the cardiac surgical teams can inter vene through tiny incisions, performing procedures that used to require major open heart surgery. The benefits to greatly shortened recovery times alone are considered a major breakthrough in the stateoftheart. The implications are nothing short of lifealtering for patients. Patients that previously were not considered candidates for valve replacement surgery due to health reasons are now likely to be eligible for such procedures via the Hybrid surgical techniques. Dr. Gates comments further on the nature of the SJH upgrades to the CV program, “ ..the equipment and techniques we use in openheart surgery, and cardiology, i.e., CT scanners, heartlung machines, realtime imaging, are all very high technology driven from a cyclical standpoint of skills and care delivery, Every five years sees a 2x improve ment across the board, in every metric regarding positive surgical outcomes. “While we have discussed the benefits of the Hybrid Operating Rooms with combined catheterization and real time imaging, other specialties, such as the electrophysiology doctors, are also beneficiaries of these upgrades to the facilities and the technology. Furthermore, the architectural consolidation of the physical plant keeps patients close to where the treatment is being performed, requiring less transport. Needless to say, hav ing a world class cardiovascular Institute with the best facilities and technology, com bined with the SJH reputation, helps us recruit and retain the best physicians.” Dr. Gates is obviously enthusiastic about the planned improvements, “Some of these new techniques, such a heart valve replacement via catheterization, cannot be per
formed until the new Hybrid operating Rooms are complete not every heart center in California will have these capabilities, and I are very excited, as physician with 12 years here on staff, to see these improvements move towards realization.”
The dynamics of growth, addressing inefficiencies, and capitalizing on opportun ities. SJH operates the only comprehensive, adult and pediatric invasive and interventional program in the area. Referring physicians, while satisfied with the current status of SJH cardiovascular programs, are aware of the impending limitations of our facilities. What are some of the dynamics of the current situation, concerns, and needs that are being addressed via planned improvements? The following paragraphs will clarify these issues. An aging population makes a compelling case for expanding and consolidating the SJH Cardiovascular Institute. These improvements encompassing upgrades to the physical plant, as well as greatly upgraded technology, will create revenue generation opportunit ies that are unequaled when compared to other specialties in the hospital complex. Overall upgrades to facilities and the emplacement of cuttingedge procedures also serve to bolster recruitment of the best doctors, technical, and nursing staff. Redacted Observations and Recommendations from SJH’s consultants: () The ongoing development and success of these new or expanded areas of the service line will require participation from a community of current and new donors that share in our vision of SJH’s continuing excellence. Capitalizing on all of the goals stated in this appeal will require adopting a best practices plan for acquiring and deploying the most uptodate technology for providing outstanding CV care. These advancements impact every aspect of patient outcomes reduced mortality, faster recovery, and overall higher confidence in and satisfaction with the SJH experience.
(Pull Quote)“Referring CV physicians repeatedly stated that they prefer to bring their pa tients to SJH due to the overall quality of care, cath lab staff and working environment.” This flattering observation is tempered by the well documented and repeatedly men tioned capacity constraints. (Pull Quote) “SJH has a tremendous opportunity to capture increased market share when its capacities are expanded and it can confidently begin to market into expanded service areas.”
Present Opportunities for Growth Opportunities abound for growing CV services at SJH. Demographics is a primary growth driver for medical services distributed across all population indices, however, aging Baby Boomers are projected to place an inordinate demand on cardiovascular clinical services. SJH is not the only CV care facility that is focusing on this transitional population dynamic; upgrading our facilities, procedures, and technology will be a bed rock requirement in order to maintain our position as the top referring CV care center. A major portion of the opportunity ahead for SJH is based on strategic decisions and moving the SJH Cardiovascular Program into a position of superior competitive advant age over other programs. Transforming the current SJH CV Program into a regionally recognized Center of Excel lence with even higher quality and more extensive clinical capabilities is lynchpin to achieving regional preeminence. Consolidating physical premises capacities to support this strategy lays the ground for all of the technical and medical / procedural / staffing enhancements that will follow in the near future.
Facts Relating to Challenges in overall procedure volume: 1.Current procedures volume in the cardiac cath labs and interventional radiology service have been working at or near the department’s capacity.
The interim addition of pre and postprocedure holding beds can improve, (up to 1015% improvement of turnaround) but not ultimately accommodate significant service line growth. Such growth will require expanded facilities and reconfiguration to establish a new baseline for longer term programmatic growth and development. 2.Two additional procedure rooms, and a 8 to 10 bed pre and postprocedural holding area are slated to address short term Cath Lab and IR capacity challenges (3350% for Cath Lab and 1520% of IR). However, sustainable longterm growth beyond 23 years will require a fourth Cardiac Cath Lab and a third IR room. Specific Facts Related to Interventional Radiology SJH operates the only comprehensive invasive and interventional radiology program in the area (for adult and pediatric patients). IR is one of the most important emerging practice disciplines undergoing great technical advancement and increased workloads. IR touches more aspects of cardiac care compared to other diagnostic or supportive, realtime technologies, and continues to grow in importance. SJH is seeking to address several issues stemming from this growth in IR services: •Interventional radiology (IR) service physicians have a number of expanded clinical pro gram offerings to develop that can further expand the department’s capabilities •The department is experiencing a flat (or declining) volume base that IR physicians at tribute to lack of access to procedure rooms. The department currently has two primary IR rooms and a third minor procedure room. •IR physicians are constrained in their availability due to facilities scheduling resource de ficits. Some doctors are just beginning to display a certain lack of willingness to accept later cases and earlier start times. These trends are the harbinger of imminent services delays, and a slowly fomenting problem that must be addressed to keep SJH in its posi tion as the most desirable cardiac facility for referring physicians
•The foregoing service issues have resulted in declining elective referrals and a lack of growth for the department. Long term growth for IR will require an improvement in depart mental hours of operation and physician availability.
Addressing Growth Issues Through Planned Improvements SJH cardiovascular must undertake a program of planned expansion in order to secure the departments leading reputation and prepare for the continued growth of the pro gram. The following is an enumeration of the steps in the planning process that are under act ive review: 1. Develop a comprehensive cardiac and vascular (C&V) program plan to include the design and development of a CV “program floor” in renovated space in the existing Hos pital building. 2. Create a space program to specify all of the programmatic components (functions, services, spaces) required to design and implement a “forward leaning,”stateoftheart programmatic floor that incorporates the majority of all cardiac and vascular services (with the exception of surgery andinpatient beds to be loc ated in the new construction). 3. Based on the final approved C&V Plan engages a suitable architectural firm to finalize and submit OSHPD ready design/build plan(s). 4. It is acknowledged and understood that “cardiac and vascular” at SJH includes not only cardiology and cardiac surgery, but vascular medicine and surgery as well. The service line also incorporates pulmonary and neuro services. 5. As the basis of space programming, envision the reasonably anticipated utilization of required programs and services based upon existing volumes, reasonable trends and assumptions, and anticipated volumes in the future. Future volume should attempt to
anticipate and accommodate physicians who may be recruited to SJH from other hospit als in Orange County where lessthanoptimum conditions currently exist. 6. Design new space as a “program floor,”defined as a centralized space that houses all related cardiac and vascular services in contiguous space for purposes of efficient and effective operations, ease of physician, staff, patient and visitor use. Base the program floor design on reengineered patient flow and throughput to enhance productivity and efficiency.
Financial Disbursements for Planned Project: The Total Scope of the program is based on raising $4050M. The actual planned dis bursements for architectural improvements, construction, and capital equipment is as follows: The total capital budget is $32,017,000, which includes $14,892,000 in construction, $16,555,000 in equipment, $570,000 of other capital related to project development. The remainder of the fundraising amount will be budgeted for increased marketing, profes sional recruiting, and operations. Summary of the Appeal 1. SJH Cardiovascular Program is poised to enter a new era of growth and clinical ser vice enhancements. The cardiovascular practice is the only clinical service line at SJH that can leverage philanthropic capital and provide ROI via fiscal returns, resulting in a realizable revenue base. Achieving this potential is predicated on expanding the depart ment’s capacity, addressing logistical impediments, and executing a wellprepared and dedicated business development plan. 2. A new architectural and facilities upgrade program for CV Services contemplates new operational capacities in response to projected growth of our existing services and new clinical capabilities. 3.Departments that occupy the planned first floor have expressed advanced planning pro gnostications that will exceed the space available on the floor. 4.Constructionrelated are planned, including a required seismic retrofit and the Csection room renovation that will affect the ReUse Zone reconfiguration. 5. Current CV services are functioning at capacity. Although some efficiencies can be realized via expanded pre and postprocedure holding unit, this cannot be considered a long term solution, and will not address the service level expectations for which SJH is so renowned.
6. The SJH cardiac cath labs (although in interim expansion) will not be able to accom modate long term growth. Additional procedure room(s) are required to support sub stantial growth. Expanding the cath lab facilities to four procedure rooms from three ac commodates plans in the near term,while further upgrades to Hybrid OR facilities will close the loop on addressing capacity issues. 7. Speaking of which, the hybrid OR – a combined procedure room with interventional imaging and open surgical capability – is currently in the preplanning stage for imple mentation. This future procedure room will alleviate some capacity constraints for the cardiac cath lab (PV cases) and the IR service. Once in place, this room will be a shared facility by IR, vascular surgery, cardiac surgery and cardiovascular intervention. 8. Licensing guidelines are being researched to determine the acceptability of mixed patient environments (pediatric, preop surgical, etc). The outcome of this research will provide the ReUse planning team with the information needed by Surgery and Invasive/Interventional CV as to what areas may operate under potential mixed used guidelines, and for what functions. CV has received approval for the use of CHOC Short Stay for its patient holding area. Certain efficiencies are garnered if these multi modal patient logistics can be realized. 9. The existing Cancer Center is the only area within the 1st Floor reuse areas that will accommodate upcoming expansion requirements for noninvasive cardiovascular depart ments (including advanced CV imaging technologies) The basement level of this facility may be capable of accommodating cardiovascular CT and possibly other advanced modalities such as SPECT imaging, PET/CT and cardiac MRI within the existing radi ation therapy vaults. This facility is not directly connected to the existing hospital 1st floor and will require an engineered solution to create this patient, staff and visitor flow corridor. A multiphased, 1st floor redevelopment plan will need to be prepared that takes into account the phased, “domino effect” of moving one function and then renovat ing that area for another function. As stated previously, this phased plan will need to in corporate the other construction activities ahead for the 1st floor including the seismic retrofit work.
Become an Integral Part of an Enduring Legacy of WorldClass, Compassionate Care
These are grand plans. Securing the future for the SJH Cardiovascular program re quires the participation of the community. Moreover, this endeavor requires philanthropic donors with exemplary vision. The transformation of an already worldclass CV depart ment, anticipating needs, gauging community impact, and ensuring overall future effect iveness, is no small task. This course of improvements is far more than an amalgam of technologies, architectural plans, and innovative medicine it is a commitment to a legacy of community service that has exemplified SJH and its donors. Please join us in ensuring that the Cardiovascular Program at SJH continues to deliver optimal results for those seeking solace and healing. Join SJH in our commitment to the continuous improvements in outstanding cardiac care for Orange County.