Welcome to the Big Heart House
The Story
After six years and the efforts of numerous faculty and staff, the $215 million U-M Cardiovascular Center opens this June. The new CVC facility adds 48 licensed beds, 36 exam rooms, eight operating rooms, two endovascular procedure labs, four cardiac cath labs and five electrophysiology labs within more than 350,000 square feet of space.
“It’s a key step for increasing Health System capacity,” says CVC Chief Administrative Officer, Linda Larin, FACHE, M.B.A.
The building is a healing environment with a five-story atrium winter garden, a water feature, meditation rooms, artwork, plants, a patient and family wellness resource center/library and a heart-healthy café.
Kim A. Eagle, M.D., FACC, says, “The CVC is not just a building. It’s an idea that if we team together, we can do something extraordinary in care, education and research. The facility represents our ‘big
heart house’ where this team can fulfill its destiny.”
Eagle is the Albion Walter Hewlett Professor of Internal Medicine, chief of Clinical Cardiovascular Medicine, one of four CVC directors and the education lead for the Cardiovascular Center.
Larin agrees: “Whether our team members are staffing one of the cardiovascular beds in University Hospital, part of our Call Center and AnswerLine team in the North Campus Administrative Building or faculty at one of our ambulatory health centers, they all are part of the Cardiovascular Center. The CVC is a virtual entity uniting people across the entire Health System.
“The building has been the impetus for us to re-think everything,” Larin says. “Through every stage of the project we interviewed patients and sought their advice to reinvent ourselves in a way that creates the ideal patient care experience.”
Traditionally, patient clinical care has been organized according to medical or surgical specialties. In the CVC, patients will be seen by skill-based teams for specific diseases. Doctors will be able to seek consultations on the spot, confer and make decisions quickly.
“It’s one-stop shopping for the patient,” she says.
"Our major focus has been re-engineering the patient care experience,” says Carole McGillen, M.S., R.N., administrative manager, CVC Clinic. “We’re improving our processes.”
To Eagle, the size and complexity of moving cardiovascular units into the new facility has been amazing. “Kudos to our faculty, nurses, staff, administration and building partners!” he says.
What’s next? Settling into the new building, Passion for Excellence training for all CVC faculty and staff, and looking toward the next project: Phase II—enhanced and additional cardiovascular research space.
“Our vision is to be the best academic heart and vascular center in the world,” says Larin.
Though the new CVC brings many clinical and administrative activities together in one place, some team members remain in facilities on all UMHS campuses. Visit the CVC's Web site for a complete listing of services and their locations.
General Facts and Figures
- Located on the corner of Observatory and Ann Streets in the “heart” of the UMHS main medical campus.
- 350,000 total square feet
- 5 clinical floors
- 458 new parking spaces spaces (254 for patients, visitors and valet; 204 Gold spots for faculty and staff)
- Levels B2, B1 2 and 4 connect to floors B2, B1, 2 and 4 of UH; Level 3 connects to level 5 in Mott Hospital.
Facilities
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- 48 inpatient beds (including 24 ICU beds)
- 36 outpatient exam rooms
- 8 operating rooms (for cardiac, vascular and general thoracic urgery)
- 20-bay PACU
- 9 cardiac procedure rooms (cardiac catheterization/electrophysiology)
- 36 rooms for patient preparation and recovery
- 14-room diagnostic suite for electrocardiography, echocardiography, diagnostic vascular testing and general radiology
- 2 interventional radiology suites
- Wellness Resource Center:
The WRC is open to the public and includes a full-service library housing a comprehensive collection of print and electronic resources on all aspects of cardiovascular health. Visitors can get handouts and brochures, check out books and DVDs, or request a professional search on a specific topic. Private study carrels, Internet-connected computers and a copier also are available. FRIENDS Gift Shop items will be available for purchase.
- Patient Learning Lab: In a private setting and with the help of staff, patients and their families can learn and practice skills they need to manage care at home, such as taking blood pressure, changing bandages or flushing drainage tubes.
- Danto Auditorium: Equipped with the latest high-tech audio and visual equipment, this auditorium is a state-of-the-art facility in which faculty can teach medical students and host seminars and academic functions. Cameras in some procedure rooms enable faculty to show real-time procedures with two-way communication.
Heart Healthy Café
Ninety percent of the foods offered at the Atrium Healthy Heart Café on level 2 of the new CVC clinical building will fall within MFit’s heart-healthy nutrition guidelines and portion sizes. Aramark developed the menu with input from Florine Mark of Weight Watchers and the CVC Café Committee of registered dietitians, nurses, exercise physiologists and administrators.
“With a project such as U-M’s Cardiovascular Center, it is crucial that we set the tone for health,” Mark says. “One of the first steps is to do that with food. The Atrium Healthy Heart Café is a chance for everyone to re-learn how to eat, to remember that good food can be delicious and that healthy food does not mean deprivation or starvation. This is a great way to emphasize lifestyle choices.”
Menu items will be low-fat, high-flavor and appropriate for patients, staff and visitors. The café is a walk-up, grab-n-go setup with limited seating around the atrium garden. A roving cart also will provide employees with food or snacks within their work setting. |
