Department Spotlight: Medical-Surgical Department
The inpatient care provided on Bertrand Chaffee Hospital’s second floor forms the core of healthcare services in Springville. For recovery from a serious illness, ailment or injury, a stay at “the Gem on the Hill” is one service among many available at our community hospital.
The culture of a hospital stay has changed over the years. Weeks of recuperation in an inpatient setting used to be the norm. Today, there is an emphasis on recovering at home in consultation with one’s primary care provider.
A shift in inpatient stays at Bertrand Chaffee Hospital has been the introduction of a hospitalist program. Hospitalists are physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners who manage patient care during their time “on the floor.” They coordinate medications, tests, treatment, education and discharge as a team with respiratory therapists, physical therapists, a pharmacist, social worker and family members to aid patients as they heal. Add to that a first-class nursing team and BCH patients are in good and caring hands.
“Our nursing staff understands that no one looks forward to being in the hospital,” said Donelle Thomas, RN, medical-surgical nurse manager. “We want our patients and their families to be as comfortable as possible as they recover, and that they’re prepared to continue to heal and resume normal activities once they’re released.”
With support from the BCH Foundation and donors like the BCH Women’s Association, Cordelian Club and Springville-Griffith Community Education Foundation, the hospital has invested in new inpatient beds, vital signs equipment and room renovations.
