East Addition
As of the week of Nov. 10, the new Nuclear Medicine camera was completely available for patient care, with all staff members having been oriented and trained in its use. One of the existing cameras from the former unit had been moved as well, meaning the first floor Medical Imaging Unit is completely relocated and fully functional.

On Tuesday, Nov. 18, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano participated in a special tour of the framed-out OB unit on the fourth floor. Great progress has been made over the past several weeks. All room partitions are standing, plumbing and electrical rough-ins have been completed, with sheet rock installation to commence in mid-December.

You may have noticed a wood-framed structure on the east end of the roof of the four-story addition. This is a temporary safety guard railing required for the roof hatch, which is an alternate egress (exit) used by fire personnel only. This will be replaced by a permanent metal handrail to be installed in the near future. There is a stairwell on the west end of the east addition that serves as the primary roof access.

North Addition
On the first floor Telemetry Unit, some final details are being completed by Plant Services. Numerous positive comments have come from physician and staff about the convenience of having the new unit adjacent to the ICU. If you have not yet had a chance to see the new courtyards on this unit, please take a few minutes to do so. Both include water features and seating. The largest courtyard is open to the public and the smaller courtyard has been designed and designated as an off-stage area for staff use only.

Internal
Work continues with Phase 3 of Emergency Services, specifically in the former Medical Imaging area. Phase 3 includes a new canopy, walk-in entry, waiting area, registration, triage and six urgent care exam rooms. This area is scheduled for completion in March 2009. The new entry, waiting and exam rooms will be used to support Emergency department operations through the remaining phases of the project which are scheduled for completion in July 2009.

On the first floor across from the Mingus elevators there is an area for a new corridor to connect with the Emergency department lobby and north exterior. This corridor will be used by Materials Management, Plant Operations, EVS and those employees parking on the north side of the campus. The corridor will be available for use in February.

Meetings have begun for coordinating the relocation of Orthopedic services, including Joint Replacement Program patients currently located on the Sedona Unit, who will be moving to the former Transcare Unit. The relocation is scheduled for the week of Jan. 12.

Needs are being prioritized to backfill the former Cottonwood Unit area and soon-to-be-vacated Sedona Unit.

Directly outside the windows of Conference Rooms A, B and C, you see the new bulk oxygen tank located on a new concrete pad. This large bulk tank will replace two smaller tanks, and is sized to meet VVMC’s future oxygen needs.