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  • Archives for Dave Kohlman

Dave Kohlman

New Healthcare Campus Built with Friends & Family in Mind


January 12, 2023

Ever since F.W. Woolworth added a “motor stairs” to its downtown Minot store in 1953, escalators have rarely appeared in Magic City structures. But that will change next spring when Trinity Health’s new hospital campus will join a tiny subgroup of other Minot buildings in featuring, among other amenities, an ultramodern escalator just inside the main entrance.

No need to wait for an elevator, the escalator will serve as a perpetual conduit optimizing people flow from the main entrance to the procedural platform. For people who aren’t a fan of escalators, elevators will be available.

“(The escalator) will come in very handy as a mobility option for patients and visitors who want to access the second floor where most of the outpatient services are located as well as the large hospital waiting area,” said Dave Kohlman, vice president of Facilities Management.

Hospitals can be stressful places, especially when a loved one is sick or injured. To ease such anxieties, Trinity’s new campus has incorporated several family- and visitor-friendly amenities designed to help the edgiest visitor experience a sense of calm.

Naturally lit spaces and open-air design evoke a sense of comfort and reassurance. Add to that warm, natural materials that suggest an overall mood of serenity. The facility will incorporate a variety of colors, depending on location. Some of the floors will have colors considered to be healing colors. Other areas, such as Pediatrics, will have colors more appealing to children.

“Every floor has a waiting area tied to the service line,” Kohlman said. “Pediatrics has a waiting room; OB has a waiting room. Same Day Surgery and Radiology Services will have their own waiting areas. Plus, every connector between the medical office building and the acute care tower will have waiting space as well, which is beautiful with a nice view in both directions. Then we’ll have the large common waiting area right above the cafeteria and kitchen. All of these spaces will have furniture equipped with USB ports where visitors can plug in their phones.”

The cafeteria, a major amenity for families and visitors, will offer a cornucopia of food choices, according to Desiree Steinberger-Blevins, director of Nutrition Services. “We’ll have tried-and-true items as well as some new fun flavors for guests to experience; for example, on certain days we’ll offer different stations for submarine sandwiches or pizza, or a world cuisine station for Mexican, Asian or other international fare. We’ll also incorporate different cooking techniques to provide healthy food options for staff, guests and patients,” she said.

The cafeteria will be roomy and well organized with increased capacity, including a few high-top seating areas for people to enjoy their food. A special vending and seating area will be provided for after-hours service.

Even food prep will see an upgrade. “We’ll have a kitchen that is made for room service style food production,” Steinberger explained. “Cooks will have their own prep areas and be able to serve patients faster because they won’t have to share their area. The same will be true for café cooks – they won’t have to share their area, allowing for cooking that is truly focused on the café.”

To further ensure visitor convenience, amenities such as a coffee shop, gift shop and drive-through pharmacy will be available. Add to that a beautiful interfaith chapel and bereavement suite that will be centrally located near the entry pavilion, yet sufficiently tucked away to serve as a quiet, tranquil space for patients, staff, visitors and families.

Not all the amenities will be indoors. Tied in to the sidewalk system will be a rest area and park complete with trees, park benches and playground equipment – a nice alternative for families as well as an opportunity for visitors and staff who wish to take a walk or enjoy lunch outdoors.

Filed Under: Hard Hat Insider Tagged With: Dave Kohlman, Desiree Steinberger-Blevins

Trinity Hospital’s New Pharmacies: Welcome to the Neighborhood!


October 18, 2022

In early Americana, pharmacies and drug stores played a critical role in the life of every town. Even today, you can find a Walgreen’s on every corner in most metropolitan areas. The new Trinity Hospital will have two pharmacies when it opens, playing a critical role in the convenience and wellbeing of our patients.

The inpatient pharmacy is in the Acute Care Tower on the hospital’s south side. This is where drugs are stored and dispensed to other areas of the hospital and community clinics for administration to patients by healthcare providers. As a back of house function, it is not open to the public, so unless you work there, you will never see it.

Design and layout of the inpatient pharmacy includes a centralized area that will house mixing rooms, three of which are dedicated to IV meds. The mixing rooms are designed as Positive and Negative Pressure Rooms to prevent contamination and cross-contamination of medications. To maintain precise sterile conditions, pharmacists gown up in an ante room before entering the mixing room where HEPA filters monitor and control air flow. To maintain long term cleanliness and sterile conditions, these rooms are inspected and recertified every six months.

“The certification process ensures compliance with regulations, which ultimately sustains high quality of care for the patients we serve,” says Carolyn Seehafer, director of pharmacy at Trinity Hospital.

Medications manufactured in the inpatient pharmacy are sent to corresponding departments and medical staff by a highly technological tube delivery system.

For pre-dosed medications, such as a 100 or 200 milligram tablet of Celebrex, for example, a large carousel holds hundreds of bins that store medications by way of a barcode/UPC code. A pharmacist or pharmacy tech enters the name of the drug on a monitor which activates the carousel to rotate to the correct shelf and bin for removal of the medication. Medications are loaded into Pyxis machines and tracked by ways of the established barcode to ensure there are no errors in delivery. Inventory reports are generated daily to ensure meds are replenished in a timely manner.

“Centralizing inpatient pharmacy responsibilities and upgrading to state-of-the-art technology creates efficiencies that translate into fewer mistakes, shorter delivery times and better patient care,” said Dave Kohlman, vice president of Facilities.

However, not everything is centralized in the inpatient pharmacy. Consultant pharmacists are found on designated floors and work side-by-side with providers on drug regimens for patient care. They perform medication regimen reviews based on a patient’s health history to evaluate the appropriateness, safety, benefits, risks and cost-effectiveness of medication therapy. The consultant pharmacist may provide alternate treatment options, as well as medication management guidance including drug monitoring, documentation, administration and storage.

As the transition from the current to the new hospital evolves, the inpatient pharmacy will load all its inventory into the new site, as well as maintain the 50 Pyxis machines that auto dispense medication in various units. Larger store rooms will allow Trinity to maintain a larger inventory, better pricing and quicker turnarounds for medication requests.

Retail Pharmacy

Trinity’s outpatient/retail pharmacy is a new addition to the locations it currently operates. It is open to the public and will be located near the first-floor elevators on the north side of the new medical office building. For additional ease, the pharmacy is accessible from both the front and back doors of the building. Better yet, the drive through kiosk is located right off 37th Avenue SW, so you don’t even need to leave your vehicle!

The interior design provides more retail space, a larger waiting area and seating. However, soon-to-be discharged hospital patients are assisted by Trinity’s Meds4U Program, a free service that offers education about medication and delivers prescriptions and over the counter medications to patients before they leave the hospital. This service helps prevent medication interruptions and the inconvenience of another stop (or long wait) before going home.

Whether at the counter or drive through, Trinity Health Outpatient Pharmacy will be ready to serve patients in a fresh, white, bright and light environment. Soon enough, it will become your preferred neighborhood pharmacy.

“Our location in the medical building places the pharmacy in a key location that is either on your way to or from an appointment. We will be available to fill prescriptions as patients leave their providers’ office, or at the drive through kiosk when they need a quick refill,” said Loralee Feininger, director of retail pharmacy. “We look forward to seeing both new and familiar faces in our new location!”

Despite the behind-the-scenes activity in these busy hubs, Trinity’s pharmacies operate like an undertow: a constant, rhythmic current, barely noticeable on the periphery of our consciousness. And yet, they serve as an essential contributor to the ebb and flow of an individual’s healthcare management.

Filed Under: Hard Hat Insider Tagged With: Carolyn Seehafer, Dave Kohlman, new hospital, pharmacy

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