FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. (April 19, 2012) -- Kimbrough Ambulatory Care Center unveiled its new technologically advanced surgical center after a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 11.
Construction of the $18.2 million surgical center is near completion; it is scheduled to open for same-day, outpatient surgeries on May 14.
"We're doing everything we can to improve the quality and safety of our care to all our patients," said Col. Leon E. Moores, commander, U.S. Army Medical Department Activity, and commander of Kimbrough, after a tour of the surgical center. "It's a privilege to serve beneficiaries here at Fort Meade."
Among those who attended was Brig. Gen. Joseph Caravalho Jr., commanding general of Northern Regional Medical Command, located at Fort Belvoir, Va., and Command Sgt. Maj. Benjamin H. Scott Jr., also of NRMC.
NRMC is Kimbrough's higher headquarters.
The surgical center, which includes four new state-of-the-art surgical suites, is part of a series of renovations at Kimbrough that began five years ago.
Lt. Col. Linda Swenson, chief of Perioperative Services, is overseeing the project in collaboration with staffers from Kimbrough's facilities and logistics branches, the anesthesia service, same-day surgery and the operating room.
"Without this collaboration, I don't think the project would have turned out as well as it did," Swenson said after the ceremony.
The center is being constructed by John J. Kirlin Special Projects, LLC, a Rockville-based design/build and construction services company. The facility includes eight pre-op rooms, a post-anesthesiology care unit or recovery room, and a state-of-the-art sterile processing department called the Central Materiel Service.
The CMS, located in Kimbrough's basement, cleans, disinfects and sterilizes surgical instruments and equipment.
The center also includes a nurse's work station/dictation room and a break room for the medical staff.
Kimbrough is awaiting delivery of $3 million in medical equipment to complete the project. Several nursing stations also must be constructed.
Each surgical suite includes three high-definition monitors that show images of laparoscopic and arthroscopic surgeries in real time.
Cameras embedded in the surgical lights can record procedures; the recordings will be used to train new surgeons. Other cameras in the surgical suites are connected to the post-anesthesiology care unit and CMS so staff can view how surgeries are progressing.
One highlight of the center is its new air handlers, said Swenson, which monitor air flow and maintain proper temperature and humidity in the surgical suites and CMS.
Swenson said the age of air handlers in the old surgical unit made it difficult to control the temperature and humidity during the summer months.
Construction of the surgical center involved the renovation of Kimbrough's former event center. The current surgical area is located in an old section of Kimbrough and was not "built for the advances in technology" for today's surgeries, Swenson said.
Currently, a staff of five surgeons perform outpatient surgeries at Kimbrough along with other surgeons from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
These surgeries include cataract surgery; ear, nose and throat procedures; hernia repairs; urology and gynecology procedures; and sports medicine, particularly for the knees, shoulders and feet.
Patients are discharged to go home on the same day. Patients who need to be observed overnight will be transferred to WRNMMC.
For their contributions to the project, several Kimbrough staffers were presented with a Commander's Coin of Excellence by Moores. They included: Swenson; Maj. Steven Stovall, chief of Logistics; Maj. Steve Kertes, chief of Anesthesia Service; Sgt. Ann Cruz, noncommissioned officer in charge of the surgical unit; and Theodore Taylor, a supply technician.
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