Page 2 - JacksonHospital

DEAR FRIENDS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS: I wanted to write to let you know of the latest developments at Jackson Hospital this summer. It seems like only yesterday that our new hospital opened in Montgomery in 1998, but time fies, and actually we have been open in our new building for more than a dozen years now. As we continue to talk with our patients and their families about what is important to them in a community hospital, we realize that more cosmetic work and upgrades will be necessary over the next few months to maintain the fresh and new appearance of our facility.

One of the busiest areas of our hospital is on the sixth-foor units, which care for patients recovering from neurosurgical and orthopedic procedures. Therefore, we are planning a cosmetic renovation to these patient care areas in the near future.Also, we have been working for a number of months to develop a strategy to offer private rooms to all of our inpatients. We hope to have this concept ready for launch in the near future.

My family had the occasion to use Jackson Hospital recently, and we realized that some of the furniture used by visitors and families was in need of refurbishment and repair. Because of this, we have made it a goal to have all-new visitor furniture by the end of this year. If you have ever visited someone in the hospital, you know it is very important to have a nice place to sit and visit with your loved ones. We are going to address this by making sure that each room has at least one recliner, one side chair and a love seat that will transform into a bed. By doing this, patients’ spouses or caregivers can always fnd a place to stay overnight if they wish (except in critical care situations).

Finally, football season is coming soon, and we realized that not all rooms had fat-screen televisions and working remotes to watch the big game.We will make sure that we are ready for the frst kickoff this fall!

As always, we appreciate your comments and suggestions on how we can make Jackson Hospital better for you and your family.

We are now posting the emergency room (ER) wait times on our website, www.jackson.org . You’ll also see current times on digital billboards in the area. ER wait times may change very quickly if patients arrive by ambulance or have life-threatening injuries or illnesses.Upon arrival, each patient is evaluated by a nurse. Patients with life-threatening conditions will

be seen before those with less serious problems. Jackson Hospital ER wait times represent the average estimated length of time from registration to being assigned to a doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant. The wait times are averaged over the past four hours and are refreshed at least every hour.