4 minute read
THE NEW ARIZONA BURN CENTER
CONNOR CORNILS
During a work-related accident, Connor sustained second and third degree burns over 25% of his body. He and his wife Christina had just returned from their honeymoon when tragedy struck. Thankfully, the one of the best burn centers in the country was just 10 minutes away. He was a patient at the Arizona Burn Center for just over a month, spending three of those weeks in a coma.
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“Please don't give up on me,” was the first thing he wrote to his wife when he woke up from being intubated. The couple has come a long way since but Connor is still in the midst of his recovery.
- Connor and Christina Cornils
THE NEW ARIZONA BURN CENTER
The Arizona Burn Center team had the luxury of designing the new facility from both the patient’s and clinician’s perspective, allowing us to bring the functions and features of world-class burn care into one location.
The new 75,000 square foot Arizona Burn Center will include:
• A Welcome Center with Family Support • Trauma and Emergency Exam Rooms • Private ICU and Acute Care Patient Rooms
• Hydrotherapy and Hyperbaric Therapy • Physical and Occupational Therapy • Psychosocial Therapy for PTSD • An Ambulatory Clinic and Urgent Care Areas • A State-of-the-art Wellness Center for rehabilitation therapy and long-term survivorship care • A Dedicated Pediatric Wing • A Children’s Room and a Teen Room
• Dedicated space for research and medical teaching
JOIN US IN BUILDING A HEALTHIER ARIZONA
Investment in our community health care system and the new Arizona Burn Center allows us to engage our patients at the highest level. It gives the best clinicians in burn care the facilities they need to excel and provides patients with access to a full range of world-class care as they recover and thrive.
HOW IS THE NEW PEDIATRIC BURN CENTER DIFFERENT?
The new pediatric wing of the Valleywise Health - Arizona Burn Center is being custom-designed from the ground up specifically with young burn patients in mind, something no other facility in the country has done. Pediatric burn care is a specialized practice that few facilities are equipped to handle. Customarily, pediatric burn care centers are focused on acute care and taking care of wounds, but burn injuries go far beyond that.
“The state-of-the-art burn center will not only allow us to provide the outstanding acute care we are accustomed to delivering, it will also help transition patients back into the world, back home, back to school and back to their friends and families,” said Dr. Kevin Foster, Director of the Arizona
Burn Center at Valleywise Health. “We want to get kids back to being the kids they were before they got burned, as quickly as possible.”
At the new pediatric burn center, every patient will have a private room with space for family members to visit, stay and participate in treatment. These rooms will provide a sanctuary for patients, so they feel as safe and comfortable as possible during their hospital stay. When it’s time to do dressing changes or invasive procedures, children will go to another location in the burn center to avoid negative association with their room.
The innovative facility will provide a holistic-care approach focused on treating the entire patient. Practitioners will concentrate not only on acute care of wounds, but also incorporate physical therapy, occupational therapy, psychological therapy, school re-entry strategies and anything else that makes the transition process from hospitalization to home life easier for kids. There will be special treatment rooms, children’s rooms, rooms for teens and family rooms.
“What is really special about our burn center are the people who work here and that’s not going to change,” added Dr. Foster. “Our team is phenomenal and truly dedicated to what they do. We’ve had to work in adverse conditions for such a long time and we made do, but we won’t have to do that anymore. With the right tools, the right environment and dedicated, seasoned medical professionals, the patient outcomes are going to be remarkable. We are very thankful for the opportunity to help even more patients live their best lives.”
Immense gratitude for major grant funding from the Diane & Bruce Halle Foundation to support naming of the new Arizona Burn Center at Valleywise Health.
The Diane & Bruce Halle Arizona Burn Center, currently under construction, is part of the new 10-story Valleywise Health Medical Center, scheduled to open in late 2023. The Diane & Bruce Halle Foundation works with community organizations to strengthen the daily opportunities and the lifelong outcomes for the people and communities in the state of Arizona.
“The Halle Family Foundation Board Members realize the devastation and pain related to burn patients and we are inspired to help,” said Diane Halle. “May this grant allow the Arizona Burn Center team to provide a safe and supportive healing environment for burn patients and their families. We are proud to support the next chapter of burn care excellence at Valleywise Health.”
