video conferencing

Officials Prepare to Open New Dallas Hospital Saturday

Last-second preparations are underway Friday before the new William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital in Dallas opens Saturday.

On Friday morning, crews did everything from cleaning the kitchen utensils to stocking the bathrooms with toilet paper.

"It’s a busy and exciting time," University of Texas Southwestern University Hospitals CEO Dr. John Warner said. "We’ve moved our staff last week and we’re doing touch up painting, we’re cleaning the building for the final time and just beginning our final preparations to be ready to start taking care of patients."

But when it comes to the medical care, they're already prepared.

"We’ve had four practice sessions where we’ve actually had pretend patients and moved them, took care of them," Warner said. "So we’re ready,

The new Clements hospital — named for the former Texas Governor — will replace the 50-year-old Saint Paul University Hospital nearby. Once Clements opens its doors Saturday morning, Saint Paul will be immediately decommissioned.

“The question, ‘What’s best for the patient?’ drove decisions about virtually every aspect of the hospital,” Warner said.

Doctors are not only be embracing new technology at Clements University Hospital, but also a new motto.

"We tried to create an optimistic feel for the hospital. We talk about it being a place to get well and not a place to be sick," Warner said. "We want patients to engage their care team and be part of their experience, and really contribute to their own well-being and health."

Clements is about twice as big as Saint Paul, with 460 patient rooms and 24 state-of-the-art operating rooms. The building has 12 floors and almost 1.5 million square feet of space.

Everything is high tech and state of the art. The operating room lights have lasers to make sure there's never a shadow over the table. Every patient room has video conferencing, so doctors can check in on patients when they're away and family members can FaceTime or Skype loved ones from home.

"It really is a different experience," Warner said. "We tried to create soothing spaces with technology that allows them to participate and engage in their care."

Patients can control the lighting, temperature and window shades in their rooms. Every patient floor has several spacious family lounges. Even the hospital's unique W-shaped hallway design was created with patient care in mind.

“We got to it from listening to nurses talk about what allows them to provide the best patient care,” Warner said. "We really constructed the building so that these medical teams have to meet in the middle and coalesce around the patient."

Doctors must first transfer more than 150 patients from the old Saint Paul University Hospital Saturday morning. Then, Clements will be open for business.

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