By Howard Koplowitz
The 23,000-square-foot facility is the first to be opened by the hospital's new Center for Advanced Medicine at i.park. Half of the $13 million cost of the building was for equipment, according to Cindy Kubala, the Center for Advanced Medicine's executive director.Surgeons working at the ambulatory surgery center will concentrate on orthopedic, gynecological, urological, ear, nose and throat, and general surgery cases such as hernias, biopsies and gall bladder surgeries. Most patients will be able to enter the operating room on their own two feet instead of being wheeled in on a stretcher and can leave the center 45 minutes after their operations are completed. Children undergoing tonsillectomies would have to stay for up to four hours to watch for bleeding, according to Kubala.She said the facility was needed due to “ongoing consumer demand for new consumer settings” and because LIJ used the same operating rooms for both “emergent and elective procedures.” With the creation of the new facility, Kubala said the general hospital will be able to focus on more critical surgeries.”This frees the operating room theater in the hospital to concentrate on involved cases,” she said in an interview two days after the center was opened to the public.The ambulatory surgery center features pre-surgery testing, which is done the day before a surgery. and helps to allay anxiety about the procedure. It consists of five consultation rooms where the patients are interviewed about allergies and their surgical history.At capacity, the center can accommodate 22 patients for surgery with 20 to 30 additional patients undergoing pre-surgical testing.The pre-operation rooms – where patients will have their intravenous line started and are interviewed by a nurse and anesthesiologist – boast comfy light-brown leather chairs and flat-screen televisions, with separate areas for children and high-profile individuals.High-tech features of the facility include operating rooms that are all computerized, sinks in a sub-sterile area that are controlled by fiber-optics and a computerized system that accounts for who had access to medications to ensure that narcotics are handled properly.”We're happy that the system invested in this facility. It's the best for everyone – patients, surgeons and the rest of LIJ,” Kubala said.Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.
