When planners designed the new outpatient medical services building across the street from Lancaster
General Hospital, the vision was to create a better patient and employee experience, with easier access, convenient services and better use of space.

 

Susan Stone, director of Outpatient Services, and Joseph Donaldson, Strategic Implementation Engineer, have been involved in the planning and construction of the new Lancaster General Downtown Pavilion, which connects to the hospital via the Duke Street Pedetrian Overpass.

The vision has been realized, and the result is now ready for the public.

 

In December, practices and services will begin the transition into the four-story, 62,000-square-foot brickfaced Lancaster General Downtown Pavilion. The building should be completely occupied by late January.

 

Connected to Lancaster General Hospital by the new glass pedestrian bridge that straddles Duke Street, the Downtown Pavilion is part of an ongoing effort to provide patients with improved healthcare service.

 

“The Downtown Pavilion advances our vision: to create an extraordinary experience for patients and families, as well as employees,” says Susan Stone, Director of Outpatient Services at Lancaster General.

 

With more efficient space, easier access and enhanced services, the new building will create a better experience for everyone who utilizes the practices and services located there. But improvements
will also include things like registration, streamlining it so that patients spend less time in the waiting room filling out multiple forms.

 

“This will be much more convenient for those receiving outpatient services downtown,” adds André Renna,
Senior Vice President, Ambulatory Care. “This move will also create additional space in the hospital for
acute care services.”

 

The services moving to the Lancaster General Downtown Pavilion include:

 

In the Laboratory Testing area on the ground floor, Susan says that there will be eight private draw locations, reducing waiting time for patients. The Lab Testing area will be opened to the public in December.

 

Also opening at that time will be the Diagnostic Imaging Center, which will provide outpatient services that include CT scans, x-rays and ultrasounds. “Some radiology services will be done at both the Pavilion and at the hospital,” Susan says.

 

The MRI Group will move into the new building in early January.

 

 

“Our new office provides us with more space, more comfort and more convenient access for our patients,” says Mark Burlingame, M.D., co-founder and Chief, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Lancaster.

 

The main entrance, located on the first floor along the pedestrian walkway, opens to a waiting room that patients will quickly notice is larger than the one at the former office located inside Lancaster General Hospital.

 

By designing the office from scratch, space has been utilized more efficiently to benefit patients, including larger exam rooms.

 

“This location puts us in the mainstream of patient activities, and away from the main hospital,” Dr. Burlingame says, with diagnostic services like x-rays and laboratory testing conveniently located in the Downtown Pavilion.

 

“Patients can experience a comfortable, non-stressful environment while dealing with their serious medical
conditions,” he says.

 

 

With more space will come enhanced services for patients at Pulmonary Associates of Lancaster, says Sue Ammerman, Practice Manager. The new office, which opens in December, will include a huge nursing station and private scheduling areas for test scheduling. There will also be a procedure room in
the new office.

 

“Smaller procedures that had to be done before in a hospital can now be done right here in our office,” Sue says. This will allow patients to have their procedures completed without needing to transfer into the hospital.

 

Pulmonary Associates of Lancaster will also increase its number of physicians. One physician joined the practice in November, and two more will be joining next summer, Sue says.

 

For the convenience of lung patients and those with related conditions, the practice will be joined on the second floor with the Lancaster General’s Pulmonary Function Laboratory and the Sleep Disorders Center.

 

All three services will utilize the same welcome center, and a receptionist will work with patients on registration and help direct them to the proper location.

 

“Our goal is to improve the patient experience,” Sue says. To achieve that goal, they designed each room
with special features, such as in-room oxygen access where patients can plug into the room oxygen and not use their own supply while they are here.

 

Joseph Donaldson inspects an area of the Downtown Pavilion still under construction, October 2008.

 

For patients at Lancaster General Family Health Services, the new office will serve a dual purpose: patient care and medical resident education.

 

“It’s going to be a wonderful facility,” says Terri Ridley, Administrative Director for Family Health Services.

 

“It has been designed to accommodate our team approach to provide better patient-focused care.”

 

The new office includes a reception area where patients can sign in, and will then be directed to one of three distinct office areas, or pods. Each pod has a waiting area and 11 exam rooms, managed by a faculty teaching physician and including mid-level providers and resident physicians from the Lancaster General Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program. The entire residency team will be headquartered in the new facility.

 

Along with using a more efficient electronic medical record system, the new set-up allows for faster registration and measuring of vital signs, enabling doctors to see patients sooner.

 

Even though it’s about the same size as their former office in the main hospital, Terri says that the flow and efficiency of the new office will make it much more functional for both patients and employees.

 

“We will have brand new equipment, furniture and computers in the office,” she says.

 

There is also a conference area that accommodates up to 50 people, so educational programs on common
medical concerns, such as diabetes, will be able to be held right in the facility, located on the entire third floor of the Downtown Pavilion.

 

• Lancaster General Downtown Pavilion and Video
• New Era Article, Dec. 2, 2008
• Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Lancaster County
• MRI Group
• Lancaster General Family Health Services
• Lancaster General Sleep Disorders Center