Ascension St. John Opens New Surgical ICU To Enhance Specialized Care

Ascension St. John in Tulsa is opening a brand-new surgical ICU, which is just another step toward having specialized care for patients who need it.

This could include patients who need transplants, have a complex spine injury, or even head and neck injuries.

Jason Hall, Ascension St. John's assistant chief operating officer, said the new unit will have a very focused level of care.

A project two years in the making, Hall said Ascension did a needs assessment to see where the gaps in care were, and the results showed that with as many trauma and surgical patients as the hospital sees, more space was needed.

"We have an established trauma ICU, but a lot of the surgical patients will need to take beds in that space, so that could lead to compression and delays in care for the trauma patients. So this expansion will decant that demand to an extent. So the surgical patients will come here, and the trauma patients will be in a specialized unit," Hall said.

Hall said with the new surgical ICU, it's important that they grow as a system and that they are looking strategically to better deliver care to the patients in the communities where they live.

To get ready for the new surgical ICU's opening, Hall said they had several open positions they needed to fill. Hall said to get those positions filled, the hospital had to start hiring about a year ahead of time.