MVHS reflects on first few months in new Wynn Hospital

UTICA — Now that its been three months since the opening of Wynn Hospital, in downtown Utica, Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) leaders are focusing on the positives while acknowledging the negatives. While the Oct. 29 move into the facility went off without a hitch, there have been a few bumps in the road since then, MVHS President/CEO Darlene Stromstad tells The Central New York Business Journal. What many may not realize, she notes, is that MVHS anticipated that there would be. Acknowledging there have been public complaints about emergency-department (ED) wait times at the new hospital, Stromstad says not only was she not surprised by wait times longer than patients experienced when MVHS operated both Faxton St. Luke’s Hospital and St. Elizabeth Medical Center, but that she was expecting them. “We did expect there to be delays and inefficiencies in service,” she says. It’s a brand-new building with a new style, new patient flow, new equipment, and new processes. On top of that, two hospitals that operated separately from each other came together as one entity on move-in day. Add to that seven new IT applications and other new technology, and things are going to take just a little longer as everyone gets used to things, Stromstad says. “Every single thing has changed,” she says. “It’s a completely new organization.” Many employees have been with MVHS for a long time and have developed habits, routines, and a muscle-memory of how to do things or where things are located, she points out. All that is gone at Wynn Hospital where everyone is starting over at square one. That, coupled with full beds as COVID, the flu, and RSV are in full swing, has resulted in longer wait times for people visiting the ED, Stromstad says. But MVHS has had a process in place since day one to highlight issues, troubleshoot, and find solutions including daily huddles. “We are making significant progress,” she says. Wait times have improved but aren’t where she wants them to be yet. As MVHS makes progress on wait times and the other issues that come from settling into a new facility, it’s hard not to marvel at that new facility, Stromstad contends. “This is a beautiful building,” she says. “Our patients love their rooms.” After years of planning and construction, it’s nice to see ideas come into practical fruition. Patient floors were designed to lessen noise and disruption by having smaller nursing stations that serve just four rooms instead of one large, bustling nursing desk. “I’m really, really pleased with how well the nurses have come together on those nursing stations,” Stromstad says. “I’m enormously proud of them.” MVHS even worked to make sure the sound of patient call bells is quieter, ringing to handheld devices carried by nurses instead of to the desk. Nurses also use those devices, as well as screens in patient rooms, to document and access patient information. “The doctors are very happy with the size of the space and how it functions,” Stromstad says. “We’ve made a lot of investment in new equipment.” While all the new equipment is nice, what’s even better is the energy that comes from having all MVHS’s hospital-based employees together into one new, modern facility, she says. “There’s a liveliness and energy and optimism for our future,” Stromstad says. Parts of the hospital campus project that are still in the works include an adjacent parking garage being constructed by Oneida County. For now, that means many employees are being bused over to work from the St. Luke’s campus in New Hartford. Stromstad says the garage should come online this spring. A new 90,000-square-foot medical office building will also open soon with MVHS serving as the largest tenant. Central New York Cardiology owns the building and will also occupy it. The building brings provider offices closer to the hospital. Having outpatient services and a freestanding ambulatory surgery center nearby will also make things much easier for patients. Beyond that, the new Wynn Hospital has allowed MVHS to steadily work toward expanding its residency programs. Four years ago, it only had two programs, Stromstad notes. Today, it has seven, with about 100 “physicians-in-learning” at Wynn. “It makes us more competitive,” when it comes to recruiting new doctors, she contends. The Wynn is one of just a handful of new hospitals built in the state in recent decades, Stromstad notes. That in and of itself is an accomplishment. “How many people get to work in a new hospital?” she asks. “Very few. This is a wonderful opportunity here.”