Danbury Hospital”™s efforts to improve care and facilities continue with the recent relocation and expansion of its Center for Advanced Orthopedic and Spine Care.
“The joke on the street is this place is called Buck Pavilion, but they call it Buckingham Palace, that”™s how nice we think it looks,” said Dr. David Bomback, medical director of the orthopedic and neurosurgery unit at the hospital.
Bomback has served patients at Danbury Hospital for the past 11 years and notes the significant improvements in the new joint and spine center located, located in the Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Pavilion, an 11-story, 316,000-square-foot space made possible through the donation of $30 million by Subway sandwich chain co-founder Peter Buck of Danbury.
While the Buck Pavilion opened in the summer of 2014, the joint and spine center only moved into its new location in mid-January and so far, so good, said Bomback.
The new facility is aimed at creating more space for both patients and caregivers, with a particular focus on providing more privacy and comfort for patients undergoing spine and joint surgery, of which the hospital touts it performs more than any other hospital in Fairfield County.
“It is very much like staying in a hotel, but with access to world-class doctors and nurses at their fingertips,” Bomback said. “You would be hard-pressed to find a hotel in the greater Danbury area that is nicer than what you are seeing in these rooms.”
The 35 new rooms feature three distinct improvements from the unit”™s previous facility, he said.
In addition to each room being nearly double the size of the previous rooms, every room now has its own private shower in addition to a pull-out couch, large flat-screen TV and panoramic views of the Danbury region.
The impact of these amenities is greater than face value might portray.
“To me the most private area you can be is in your own restroom, to have that three steps from your bed is invaluable,” Bomback said. “There is nothing worse than a patient having to walk down the hall with two nurses and a therapist, somebody clutching their gown in the back so they are not showing themselves and then get to some bathroom that has been used by other people on the floor.”
The ability for family or friends to sleep in the patient”™s room on a full pull-out couch rather than a standard or reclining chair is something Bomback has already seen in use and make a big difference for family members who wish to stay close to their loved ones without the expense and travel a hotel stay incurs.
All together the variety of amenities work together to create a better patient experience, which has been reflected in patient satisfactory surveys, Bomback said.
But it is not only patients who are having a better stay. The expanded rooms also provide more space and ease of access for medical staff to care for patients, said Crystel Noujaim, a physical therapist in the unit.
“The rooms give a little bit more of an ability to get the patient going in almost a home simulated area,” Noujaim said.
This helps caregivers and patients get to what she describes as the best part of the job, “seeing results and seeing them do better.”
