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Now, there's room to operate Providence patients, medical staff benefit from $8 million addition By BILL KETTLER Richard Dumanowski beams like a boy with three new toys when he talks about the new operating rooms at Providence Medford Medical Center. "There's room for so much stuff," he says, showing off three new surgical suites that are scheduled to open around Aug. 6. "We're always moving stuff." Surgery has changed dramatically during the 20 years Dumanowski has worked as an operating-room nurse. Surgeons, anesthesiologists and their helpers need more space for television screens, microscopes and patient-monitoring equipment as well as the traditional carts of instruments and supplies. "Pretty soon a room gets pretty small," Dumanowski said. Dumanowski will have plenty of work space in the new 800-square-foot operating rooms - the heart of a $6 million project that will help meet a growing demand for surgical procedures across Southern Oregon and Northern California. Local surgeons have more work because the region's aging bodies need more repairs. Sixteen percent of Jackson County residents - 29,000 people - are over age 65, and nearby counties also have growing senior populations. More than 100,000 people over age 65 live in the seven-county region of Southern Oregon and Northern California. Providence has performed an average of about 4,900 surgeries per year for the past 10 years, but the hospital has "more requests from surgeons for blocks of time than we have time and rooms to accommodate," said spokeswoman Deborah Elliott. "Our surgeries have been on a steady increase for the last five years," said Carolyn Johnson, of Ashland Community Hospital. She said new technology that allows patients to recover quicker has fueled the demand for a growing number of outpatient surgeries. Providence's project gives the hospital eight surgical suites, and raises to 26 the number of operating rooms in Jackson County. Rogue Valley Medical Center has 11 operating rooms; Ashland Community Hospital has four; and the Southern Oregon Surgery Center has three. Providence's new surgery suites have been designed to make them easier to work in. Lenses in the lights magnify an ordinary 100-watt bulb to provide sufficient illumination without the heat of a larger bulb. A ceiling-mounted boom provides connections for oxygen and other medical gases. "In the old days, this was just a bunch of spaghetti hanging from the ceiling," Dumanowski said. "It worked just as well, but it was harder to clean." The surgery suites occupy only the second floor of the three-story building. The first floor includes space to store equipment and supplies and for sterilization equipment. "The part down here isn't very sexy," said Brian McCormick, Providence's central service supervisor, "but it's essential. Clean sterile instruments are the basis of good surgery." Architects and contractors had to adhere to rigid state and federal codes to meet requirements for infection control and air purity. Pumps, filters, fans and blowers fill the entire third floor, purifying the air in the operating rooms and capturing residues from hazardous chemicals that are used during sterilization. "It's some of the most complicated construction," said Elaine Hanley, Providence's construction director. S & B James Construction was the general contractor. Marquess & Associates of Medford provided engineering consultation. Jon R. Jurgens of Portland was the architect. Dumanowski, the surgical nurse, said operating-room design has improved over the years as architects and medical people learn what works best. In the new building, for example, designers included a mezzanine between the second and third floor to give maintenance workers easy access to mechanical equipment without entering the sterile operating rooms. "In the old days," he said, "when something broke, they had to close down the surgery." Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.