After almost five years of work, UNC Health Blue Ridge leaders cut the ribbon Wednesday on the new patient tower on the hospital’s Morganton campus. Deanne Avery and Kathy Bailey (front row, third and fourth from left) cut the ribbon on the patient tower at UNC Health Blue Ridge in Morganton on Wednesday. The eight-story tower more than triples the size of the emergency department, nearly doubles the number of ICU beds and moves the hospital’s helipad to the roof.
“But this is not just a building,” said Kathy Bailey, CEO of UNC Health Blue Ridge. “It’s our commitment along with UNC Health to the future of you, to the future of Burke County and to the future of western North Carolina.” Kathy Bailey listens to one of the speakers at the ribbon-cutting for the patient tower at UNC Health Blue Ridge.
Mac McCrary, chairman of the UNC Health Blue Ridge board of directors, said hospital staff input was key in designing the new facility. Here are some of the features in the new facility hospital leaders have pointed out: The tower is equipped with four trauma rooms like the one pictured. The new building brings technology, larger elevators and enhanced ICU bed capabilities, said Jamie Adams, a nursing administrative supervisor.
“It makes it easier, as a nurse, to care for these patients when you have these facilities available,” Adams said. More than that, it makes the staff proud to work there, said Ashley Carpenter, another nursing administrative supervisor for UNC Health Blue Ridge. A room without a bed in the ICU shows off the reclining chair and two-seater sofa that can be folded down into a bed.
The gray tile in the center is the space for the patient to use. The beige tile on the perimeter shows the space meant for nursing staff (closest to the camera) and loved ones (near the window). “We’re proud to say look at what UNC Health Blue Ridge here in Morganton has done,” Carpenter said.
This tower symbolizes growth ...
and now, in our role, we are not patient-facing roles, we’re support roles to the team, I can now help the teams provide the best care because we have up-to-date technology, we have up-to-date equipment, we have bigger rooms. We have a facility we are proud of, and we want to show off like we have today.” A tour group stops on the top floor at the doors to hear about the rooftop helipad’s new features.
Bailey said the new facility will allow the hospital to keep patients in Burke County it previously would have had to transfer to different facilities, usually an hour or more away. “The facility (we) have here is unmatched in the state of North Carolina, and we’ve got it right here in Burke County,” Bailey said. “We have the facilities, the expertise and the equipment to take care of people that used to have to travel to the big city, and now they don’t have to leave home.
And that’s what’s it’s all about, is taking care of our community.” The new emergency department will open in September. The intensive care unit will open in the spring once a bridge is built to connect the new building to the original wing of the hospital.
Rooms in the ICU are equipped with interactive screens that show patients their care team, their status, their plan for the day and any special notes. A crowd gathers outside the patient tower on the UNC Health Blue Ridge-Morganton campus for a ribbon-cutting on Aug. 21.
Chrissy Murphy is a staff writer and can be reached at [email protected] or at 828-432-8941. Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.
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