The Time is Now to Expand Critical Care Space The COVID-19 outbreak has highlighted the need for expanded critical care space at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center. In the absence of a vaccine to prevent COVID-19, we urgently need additional space so we can care for all of the patients who look to us for critical care. Traditionally patients in our critical care unit have needed expert, intensive care for heart attacks, heart failure, strokes, respiratory or renal failure. The recent pandemic, our increasing provision of acute heart services and population growth in our community has heightened our need for critical care space. Providence St. Vincent serves as the primary community hospital for Washington County. More than 50% of the county’s residents seek medical care here. Providence St. Vincent is also the area’s main referral center for advanced care in cardiology and neurosciences. In 2019, our doctors and nurses cared for more than 4,000 adults with critical conditions.
Growing to Care for the Most Vulnerable On typical weekdays, our critical care unit is filled to 80% capacity. As we expand services for heart failure and infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, we face an increasing need for additional critical care beds. Without adequate bed space, some patients are held in the emergency department until a bed becomes available. Other patients cannot be transferred in from other hospitals. Less critical patients may have procedures rescheduled or cancelled. Washington County population growth is expected to continue climbing, with the number of older residents increasing significantly. Without additional space at Providence St. Vincent will face limitations in serving hundreds of patients who need complex, intensive care.
How you can help Providence St. Vincent needs 16 more critical care rooms to meet community needs for the next decade. • These rooms will allow us to care for 33% more patients each year, eliminating wait times and delays for incoming patients that currently result from lack of critical care beds. • Each spacious room will provide state-of-the-art monitoring equipment and feature a movable console that will increase the patient’s ability to engage directly with family or other visitors. In addition to housing standard equipment, such as IV, suction and oxygen, the 360-degree console will hold patient comfort items, including the call light and telephone. • The rooms will also feature new telemonitoring systems that will allow providers to better monitor patients and watch their heart rhythms from anywhere in the unit. • The new critical care beds will offer enhanced patient comfort, which can help decrease the delirium that critical care patients sometimes experience because of their surroundings. • These additional rooms will help us maintain adequate capacity to manage a 20% surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations, as outlined in Governor Brown’s plan to reopen Oregon.
With a philanthropic investment of $5 million, we can open these new rooms in late 2020. Your gift today will provide life-saving care to thousands of critically ill people for years to come. Laurie C. Kelley, MBA Group Vice President | Chief Philanthropy Officer
E: Laurie.Kelley@providence.org C: (971) 678-3369
OUR MISSION As expressions of God’s healing love, witnessed through the ministry of Jesus, we are steadfast in serving all, especially those who are poor and vulnerable. OUR VALUES Compassion, Dignity, Justice, Excellence, Integrity
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