John C. May, President/CEO of Sebasticook Valley Hospital (SVH) has announced that the hospital is launching the latest advance in patient care at SVH called a “Virtual Intensive Care Unit (ICU)”. Stated May, “This scientific advance in medicine allows small and rural hospitals to access to the expertise of Intensivists (physicians specialized in critical care) as well as registered nurses with specialized training in critical care. As a member of, the Eastern Maine Healthcare System (EMHS), SVH’s medical and nursing staff will be able to utilize the expertise of ICU specialists at Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.”
Chief of the SVH Medical Staff Dr. James Baldwin who practices medicine at the Sebasticook Regional Family Care office in Clinton stated, “Virtual ICU brings the specialized EMMC Intensivists’ experience to our local hospital, Sebasticook Valley Hospital, for the benefit of our patients in the Intensive Care Unit.”
With Virtual ICU hardware and software – camera, computer, and supportive equipment upgrades, patients in the SVH ICU will be able to have their vital signs monitored at both SVH and EMMC and the EMMC Intensivists will have real time visual access to the ICU patients at SVH. SVH medical and nursing staff will be able to confer any time of the day or night with the EMMC Intensivists regarding a patient’s care. This is a tremendous advance for a small, community hospital. It will allow patients to receive high quality state-of-the-art ICU care at their own local hospital, where their family and friends can be close and participate in their care and recovery. It will help avoid transfers and duplicative tests at tertiary (larger medical care) facilities, thus saving healthcare costs. While a portion of this project is supported by grant funding, SVH’s portion will be approximately $235,000. The July 2008 SVH Benefit Golf Tournament proceeds of $39,191 are being dedicated to the fundraising efforts for this project to benefit SVH patients and to help SVH staff utilize state-of-the-art technology in delivering ICU patient care.
Vicki Loughery, RN, BSN, MS, the hospital’s Director of Nursing stated, “Quality of care and great customer service is always our primary focus at SVH. With the addition of the virtual ICU, we continue to excel in these areas. It will provide the clinical staff an opportunity to work closely with the EMMC staff, further developing our strength as a system. We will work together to link these additional services in our rural area, keeping quality healthcare close to home.”
SVH is a 25-bed critical access hospital in Pittsfield serving a region of more than 30,000 individuals, local business and industries and schools. For more information please contact SVH at 487-3726 extension 222. |
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