St. Mary's Walkthrough

I just met with Mark Ralston at St. Mary's and I must say that their new additions makes it look more like a hotel than a hosptial.

We met a 1 p.m. in the main atrium area and as soon as I walked in I was taken back by the enormity of the area. I've never been able to visually measure distances well, but it felt like the walls went on forever. First Ralston took me upstairs to the family birthing area (I'm beginning to feel this is the place everyone likes to go) and I now feel like I know a little bit why Athens Regional is growing its family birthing area too. We were able to go into one of the rooms as it was temporarily unoccupied (not the case at ARMC). That of course paled in comparison to watching a newborn getting a check-up through a window.
We took a one floor ride up the elevator to the neo-natal unit -- but didn't enter. Ralston preferred that we stay out of the way and I certainly didn't object. As we were upstairs an elderly couple looking puzzled asked how to get to a room on the 5th floor. Since the elevator we went up only had 4 floors, Ralston knew they should have taken elevator B and it occurred to me that with such a large building it would be very easy for visitors to get lost.
We traveled back down the elevator and towards the radiology area where Ralston showed me a CT scanner. I thought Toshiba made laptops and TV's, but apparently they make giant donut looking machines that can scan every millimeter of your body faster than your heart can beat. This, Ralston said, is part of what makes St. Mary's great at treating stroke patients and has helped it earn the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations' certification as a Primary Stroke Center -- the first hospital in Northeast Georgia to gain such certification. Ralston said that if a stroke patient is admitted soon after symptoms, using the CT scan can find if any blood vessel is hemorrhaged to determine the correct action to save a patient's life.
We continued through the hospital to some of the older areas, which felt more like a hospital again than a Ritz-Carlton. We passed by surgery and short care facilities before I realized there were dots all over the floor. These dots, Ralston explained, help guide patients through the labyrinth of corridors and rooms that make up the hospital.
We walked into the emergency room (which actually are now called Emergency Departments) and it felt a little small. Ralston said that the ED is actually undergoing renovations to help deal with this issue.
We came full circle back to the main atrium and got into the meat of my inquiry: what is St. Mary's role in promoting health education and how does it see itself fit into the new medical school slated for fall 2009 (the last estimation I heard)?
If you want to know, read my article -- it's being filed Wednesday.
One last juicy tidbit that actually had actually slipped my radar: there's another hospital coming to Athens. That's right, around the Bishop Park area there will be a hospital based in long-term care. Three hospitals in this area? Wow. I think Athens is ready for their own med school.