Washington Regional Med Center

Description

Washington Regional is a 366bed acute care medical center located in Fayetteville Arkansas Conveniently situated across from the North Hills Medical Park near the intersection of Highway 71 and Interstate 540 the regional medical center is highly visible and easily accessible

Originally built in 2002 Washington Regional Medical Center recently completed a 64 million expansion that includes a new fifth floor with a chapel expanded Emergency Department Pat Walker Center for Seniors Center for Support Services and expanded kitchen and pharmacy

History

Washington Regional Medical Center opened as Washington County Hospital in 1950 as an acute care facility with 50 beds on the corner of College Avenue and North Street in Fayetteville Arkansas In August 2002 the new Washington Regional Medical Center opened with 233 beds on North Hills Boulevard

Throughout the years Washington Regional has maintained its place as a progressive leader in health care in Northwest Arkansas Today the medical center is part of a comprehensive health care system that includes Fayetteville City Hospital Brookstone Assisted Living North Hills Surgery Center Dialysis Centers of NWA HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital and a network of clinics and services in Northwest Arkansas

Washington Regional Medical Center is the regions only notforprofit community owned and locally governed hospital

Washington Regional Medical Center Timeline

1947 Washington County Judge Witt Carter appointed a county hospital commission to study the possibility of building a second hospital in Fayetteville to relieve overcrowding at City Hospital

1948 Architect Paul Young Jr completed hospital design

1950 August 28 Washington County Hospital opens for business with 50 beds George Berryman of Dallas is named as the first hospital administrator From August 1950August 1951 499 babies are born at Washington County Hospital

1953 Polio ward opened First polio patient admitted August 14 1953 Washington County Hospitals first auxiliary was formed with a nucleus of 11 women and Benny Carlisle administrator

1954 Employees began fundraising efforts to install individual air conditioning units in rooms

1955 Washington County Hospital had 60 employees with an annual payroll of 120000 There were 33 physicians and 38 nurses and nurses aides

1957 Cable television installed in patient rooms

1959 New twostory wing to the east and 2nd floor over existing hospital was completed The new addition added 100 new beds which doubled the hospitals capacity

1961 Washington County Hospitals name changed to Washington General Hospital

1962 Pharmacy department added

1966 Hospital delivered 900 babies A new telephone system that let patients dial without going through the hospital switchboard was installed Expansion of 4th and 5th floor east wing completed

1969 Washington General Hospital participated in preliminary plans to establish a twoyear Associate Degree of Nursing program at the University of Arkansas Fayetteville Candy Stripers summer youth volunteer program was started After a crisis involving a lack of ambulance service a station wagon was being used in emergencies the ambulance service became a hospitalbased service

1971 Cobalt unit for cancer patients passed inspection by the Arkansas Department of Health

1972 The active medical staff included 63 physicians and dentists Candy Stripers summer youth volunteer program admitted first boys The first patient brought by helicopter was admitted The chopper landed on the empty parking lot at the Bullington property located south of the hospital

1973 Washington General Hospital changed name to Washington Regional Medical Center Community fundraising began for a 12million expansion plan that would include a patient tower a new parking plaza remodeling of the older section and renovation and updating of almost every hospital service with additional space for coronary care and intensive care First major donation from physicians was 50000 from Drs Andy and Mae Nettleship Fayetteville pathologists Kidney dialysis unit opened with one patient a nurse and two dialysis machines

1975 Washington Regional Medical Center expanded to a 240bed facility

1977 CT scanner and ultrasound equipment became operational

1978 East Tower opened with dedication on July 16 The expansion of the East Tower included the dietary department patient rooms on the 4th floor parking deck Xray department and the bridge that connected the old and new buildings Washington Regional opened a fully equipped heart catheterization laboratory A new emergency department and 4th floor Pediatrics was completed

1979 Physician staff totaled 120 WRMC was the first hospital in state to have birthing rooms Oneday birthing was instituted and OneDay Surgery service began

1980 1267 babies were born at Washington Regional Medical Center

1981 Emergency Department became a Level II Trauma Center

1982 Completion of the East Tower expansion ended with the 6th Floor opening for operation adding 44 obstetric and gynecological beds

1983 WRMC had 826 full and parttime employees Thirty medical specialties represented by 135 physicians New neurological floor and intensive care stepdown unit opened at 2 West adding 22 beds for a total of 272

1985 WRMC Hospice became first Medicarecertified program in Arkansas

1987 Medical staff totaled 160 Center for Exercise opened at a facility in the shopping center at Township and Gregg streets Magnetic Resonance Imaging MRI transported to Washington Regional Sleep Disorder Center opened one of only 100 in the US at the time

1989 Washington Regional Medical Center became a smokefree institution

1990 Washington Regional and Fayetteville City Hospital announced an agreement to share operating room space at City Hospital to help ease the volume of surgeries performed at WRMCs main facility

1991 WRMC went back to using cloth diapers for newborns to become more environmentally safe Hyperbaric oxygen service HBO a medical treatment that enhances the bodys ability to provide oxygen to tissues wraquoas available in Northwest Arkansas at WRMC Renovation of 6th floor womens unit to accommodate an increasing number of women seeking services was completed

1993 Openheart surgery started at Washington Regional

1994 Washington Regionals Kids for Health a health education program for school children began as a pilot project at Prairie Grove and West Fork schools and at Jefferson Elementary in Fayetteville with about 1000 children participating

1995 Cancer Support Home in Fayetteville opened

1999 Groundbreaking for new Washington Regional Medical Center replacement facility at North Hills Medical Park occurred

2002 New Washington Regional Medical Center encompassing 345000 square feet opened on August 27 300 physicians were on the medical staff
New facility included the Johnelle Hunt Womens Center and the Walker Heart Institute Complex fiber optics infrastructure was installed to make the new technology possible This stateoftheart system known as quotGigaMANquot expanded broadband capabilities making Washington the first business in Arkansas to have a GigaMAN connection

The use of IP Telephony was implemented Washington Regional was the first hospital of its size in the nation that went to full IP Telephonya system that allowed computers to be used as telephones and telephones to be used as handheld computers

In addition a 1 Million Picture Archival Communication System was also in place It allowed for improved communication with twoway videoconferencing and distancelearning capabilities Physicians were able to provide critical information to their peers without leaving their medical facility The PAC System also used in Imaging Services where Xrays can be taken stored and read digitally instead of on film Washington Regional Medical Center was the first public hospital in Northwest Arkansas to go completely filmless with the new system

Washington Regional also operated the 1125 North College facility which included several ancillary departments

2003 Announcement of a new agreement with Arkansas Childrens Hospital the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Department of Pediatrics and Washington Regional Medical Centerthe first of its kind in the state
Washington Regional broke ground for a new medical office building which would be adjacent to the Walker Heart Institute

2004 Washington Regional held grand opening for New Center for Health Services This building connected by a skywalk to the Heart Institute provides convenience for cardiac patients and physicians Dedication of the quotWords for Healingquot fountain designed by local artist Hank Kaminsky was held in tribute to the Walker family Hospital opened a new lab facility at the Center for Health Services

2005 Washington Regional selected Cerner as Clinical Information Systems provider to modernize the delivery of care by unifying its clinical laboratory pharmacy radiology and surgery departments through the use of electronic health records Implementation was to span over three years with the first phase beginning August 2005
Based on growth and market projection WRMC began plans for an expansion to include a new patient floor an expanded emergency department a senior health center expanded kitchen warehouse and storage space pharmacy and an administrative services building to consolidate all support services to the North Hills campus

Washington Regional announced the development of services to improve healthcare for adults aged 65 with the new Washington Regional Clinic for Seniors The clinic included the addition of three clinicians to its team of medical practitioners two fellowship trained geriatricians and a fellowship trained neuropsychologist

WRMC installed the Vocera Communication System featuring a lightweight wearable badge that enables instant voice communication over a wireless network

Washington Regional implemented a Smoke Free Campus

A new Intensivist Program was instituted in the hospitals Intensive Care Unit Physicians who specialize in caring for critically ill patients Intensivists coordinate the care provided by nurses respiratory therapists and others as needed by the patient

WRMC opened a new inpatient unit ACE Acute Care of the Elderly designed for the care of the older patient

2006 Washington Regional granted permanent easement and tree preservation area to City of Fayetteville for Scull Creek Trail Project
WRMC began a Rapid Response Team TRex Team Response to Extremes the first one in Northwest Arkansas This team was established to identify potential patient problems before they become actual problems

Washington Regional announced a 4 million gift from the Walker Family Foundation the largest gift Washington Regional has ever received

2007 WRMC completed expansion of the 5th floor and emergency department
5th Floor The unique design of this 46792 square foot space was the direct result of input and suggestions from employees and increased patient capacity by 30

Emergency Department The addition of 20000 square feet to existing emergency treatment area effectively transitioned the emergency department capable of providing care for as many as 70000 patient visits annually
New Senior Specialty Unit formally known as ACE unit opened on the new 5th floor WRMC was the first hospital in NWA to offer a specialized inpatient unit to care for aging population

Washington Regional began construction of the Springdale Center for Health which will offer a womens clinic outpatient imaging and lab services along with other medical specialties

2008 Pat Walker Center for Seniors opened with a community wide celebration honoring Ms Pat Walker and the Walker Family The 38000 square foot Center houses the following services Washington Regional Clinic for Senior Health Washington Regional Memory Clinic specializing in memory disorders the Parkinsons disease Clinic for patients with advanced Parkinsons or Huntingtons disease the newly relocated and expanded Center for Exercise now fully accessible to individuals with handicaps Services include a warmwater swimming pool heated therapy pool and stateofthe art fitness and weight equipment The Education Center which houses a health resource library and a large conference room designed to host community events for seniors and the offices of Faith in Action a volunteerbased nonprofit organization that provides nonmedical services to homebound seniors

Washington Regional completed the 64 million construction project Expanded Emergency Department new Center for Support Services new fifth floor new Pat Walker Center for Seniors relocated and expanded pharmacy and expanded and renovated kitchen

WRMC held a dedication ceremony for the Bodenhamer Chapel located on the new fifth floor A stained glass mural inspired by the giant elm tree on the campus was presented

WRMC installed a 16 million cardiac imaging system in the cardiac catheterization lab cath lab department located within the Walker Heart Institute

2009 Springdale Center for Health opened providing the following services
Imaging Digital Screening Mammography Bone Density Digital XRay Ultrasound and EKG HerHealth by Washington Regional Now at two locations Services include prenatal care gynecology infertility and urogynecology
Outpatient Laboratory