The first hospital in Holly Springs is progressing nicely. Suburban Living was given a guided tour of the facility on September 17, and we have some details to share.
Wewere fortunate enough to have Roy Tempke, chief operating officer of the UNC REX Holly Springs Hospital, accompany us on the tour. When asked how he felt about the facility, his answer was simple. “UNC REX is excited to open our Holly Springs Hospital next year. Southern Wake County is one of the Triangle’s fastest-growing regions and this facility will offer much-needed medical care and services to residents closer to home. We are grateful for the outpouring of support from Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina and surrounding communities over the past decade as we worked on this project and look forward caring for these neighbors.”
The top question that most residents want answered is, “When will it open?” Based on the current schedule and progress, the hospital is expected to be open and ready to accept patients by September 2021.
The $170 million, 242,000-square-foot facility will offer cutting-edge technology and brings with it an array of features and technology that were first installed in UNC’s Heart and Vascular Hospital that opened in 2017. UNC REX expects to have about 400 employees at the facility when fully operational.
If we start your virtual tour outside the building, there is a smaller building, separate from the hospital, titled the Central Energy Plant (CEP). The CEP is a stand-alone building that houses all the equipment that supports the hospital’s power and electrical needs. If there is a power loss in the community, the building houses two generators that can keep the hospital up and running. The CEP also houses the water supply for the hospital.
Next to the CEP, there will be a helipad to quickly transport patients to UNC REX’s main Raleigh campus or UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill, if necessary.
There will be a courtyard between the current Medical Office Building and the hospital that patients, visitors and co-workers can enjoy. They also have plans for walking trails around the campus that will connect to existing sidewalks, providing linkage between the campus and downtown Holly Springs.
FIRST FLOOR: Main Entrances, Emergency, and Radiology
There will be two main entrances at the front of the building. One will be clearly marked for emergencies, and the other will be the main entrance to the building. When entering through the front doors, there will be a reception area and five registration offices. The main lobby will be a two-story atrium with large windows allowing for natural light to fill the room. Behind the registration area will be the Radiology department. On the other side of Radiology will be the Emergency Department. The layout is such that if an emergency case accidentally comes in through the main entrance, they can quickly and easily get down the hall to the Emergency Department.
The Emergency Department will have seven treatment rooms. Setting this hospital apart from others, the rooms in the ED will be actual rooms with three solid walls, rather than just curtains for separation. The entrance to each room will be a sliding glass door. Each room will be set up with the capability of having an exam light overhead, and the rooms are designed to be large enough for guests. There are triage bays just off the Emergency Department lobby. They hope to do 80% of the emergency care out of the triage rooms. These rooms are larger than the ones at UNC REX’s main campus to offer more room to work. There will also be an area for patients awaiting test results. The entire area is secure and can be locked down. There will be metal detectors at both entrances for an added level of security and peace-of-mind.
SECOND FLOOR: Pharmacy, Lab, Kitchen
The second floor will be home to the pharmacy, lab, and most importantly, the kitchen. UNC REX is nationally recognized for its food and nutrition service, which will extend to the new Holly Springs hospital. The kitchen will prepare all the patient meals as well as food for their guests. There will be a dining are with open seating overlooking the lobby and skylights overhead to add to the open atmosphere.
The floor will also house a food pantry to help patients who are food insecure, similar to the food pantry at the main UNC REX hospital in Raleigh.
THIRD FLOOR: Labor and Delivery
The third floor of the hospital will be the Labor and Delivery floor. There will be seven Labor and Delivery rooms, five OB triage rooms and two recovery rooms. The C-Section room has an opening that leads to the infant resuscitation room, and framework is in place for a second C-Section room should the need arise at a future date. The C-Section room is set up similar to an OR, but specific to women’s needs. After a procedure, a woman will move to one of two recovery rooms before being transferred to a different room. Of note for the seven labor and delivery rooms – they will each house a bathtub that mothers can use during labor only (they will not be used for delivery).
FOURTH FLOOR: Surgery
There will be three licensed operating rooms and one procedure room on this floor. There will also be six post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) bays which can be set up as isolation rooms should the need arise, such as we’ve seen with the COVID-19 pandemic. The other 12 rooms on the floor will be for pre-procedure patient set-up (PRE-OP).
The ORs each have a door at the front which acts as the primary entrance to the room, and a door in the back for the staff to be able to access the supply room. All four rooms share the same supply room. Although there will be ample supplies inside the room, if they need something additional, they have quick access to the centrally located supply room. Each OR is 525 square feet, and most of the equipment will be on booms fixed to the ceiling, reducing the number of cables and wires on the ground, helping keep the floor free from trip-hazards. A vast array of surgeries can be performed in these rooms.
FIFTH AND SIXTH FLOOR: In-Patient Rooms
These floors are identical and house the in-patient rooms. Each floor will have 24 identical patient rooms, all on the perimeter of the building, providing outside views. The in-room bathrooms will have sliding glass barn doors. These doors not only save space in the room but also reduce the need for a threshold, making access easier for patients. The entrance to the patient rooms will also be sliding glass rather than a swinging door. The rooms are designed with family in mind. The couch in each room is actually a sleeper sofa so that guests staying overnight will be able to sleep in a bed instead of a recliner. Each room is almost 300 square feet, and a 55” television will be in every room. In addition to being used for watching your favorite show, the TVs are also used for patient education.
The fifth floor will be an extension of Women’s Services and mainly used as a post-partum recovery floor and nursery. One wing of this floor has six beds that can be used for a future pediatric unit or isolation unit. There will be an extra level of security for the pediatrics portion of the unit, and six beds will be available for isolation to handle things like a pandemic. All of the rooms on both floors have the same configuration, so if there’s a baby-boom in Holly Springs, for example, they can all be operated as post-partum rooms.
The sixth floor will be a medical-surgical (med-surge) floor for other admitted patients. Eighteen of the rooms will be standard med-surge, and six rooms will be for ICU care. There are another six beds available for isolation on this floor.
All 48 patient rooms will have overhead tracks that house a lift system for the patient in the room. The lift has a capacity of 1,000 lbs. and helps protect both the caregiver and the patient from injury.
