FAIRMONT — WVU Medicine has completed renovations on the third floor of Fairmont Medical Center – acute patient care rooms – and reopened the full floor this week. The Dominion Post took a tour on Wednesday.
Aaron Yanuzo, hospital chief operations officer, said the remodel reflects a new approach to the space. The floor’s lobby just off the elevators, for instance, is designed to be a more welcoming hotel-like space.
The floor has 42 patient beds. They replaced the old ceilings and put in new LED lighting. Rooms used to be heated with hot-water baseboards and patients couldn’t control room temperatures. That was replaced with regular HVAC and individual room controls.
Windows were another problem, he said. Rooms would be either too hot or too cold depending on which side of the building the sun was shining on. The new windows are energy efficient.
The equipment in the rooms was new, installed when WVUM moved in 2000, so that was removed during the remodel and returned. But the rooms have new calming-color hardwood floors, new lockers, sinks and cabinets.
Nursing Manager Catherine Mayle said the new materials in the rooms are easier to keep clean.
The new center court area – with the nurses’ station – features softer, cooler, calmer tones with new cabinetry and countertops.
Mayle pointed to pictures all along the walls, reflecting the floor’s theme of wildlife. Yanuzo said each floor has a theme. The theme for the second floor – the skilled nursing rooms – is 1930s Fairmont.
Renovation was done in two phases, Yanuzo said. Each side of the floor has its own set of rooms and is called a suite. Construction on one suite began in October and concluded in January. Patients were housed and treated on the other side.
Work on the remaining side began in February and they cut the ribbon opening the whole floor on Monday.
Work still continues on the central section of the third floor, which will become the medical oncology clinic and infusion center. “We’re hoping to open that up by this time next year,” Yanuzo said.
The second and third floors hold a total 72 beds, he said. On Wednesday they had about 30 patients across the two floors. “Staffing is critical right now. We’re in the process of trying to get enough staff to take care of that many patients.”
WVUM said in a release announcing the opening of the floor that the ongoing renovations to Medical Center are intended to align the facility with the standard of care provided at flagship J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital and other system facilities.
“We’re excited to continue to improve Fairmont Medical Center, bringing life to a facility and building that has played a vital role to Fairmont and Marion County for more than 50 years,” Michael Grace, WVU Hospitals president and chief administrative officer for the WVU Health System, said in the release. “We’re excited to see the next phases of our plan come together for our patients, staff, and the community.”
Email: dbeard@dominionpost.com
