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As the surgical volume continues to increase at Faulkner Hospital, a new operating room is under construction and will be fully functional by year’s end. Faulkner realized a 12 percent increase in surgical volume in fiscal year 2001—an increase that the addition of the new multi-faceted room will further enhance.
“By accommodating 10 to 20 more surgical cases per week, the new room provides us the opportunity to better handle the surgical growth that has and will continue to take place,” said Pardon Kenney, MD, chief of Surgery at Faulkner.
The new addition will increase Faulkner’s total number of OR rooms to nine and will allow Brigham and Women’s/Faulkner surgeons to perform up to 900 more procedures each year. Currently, between 130 and 150 surgical cases are performed each week in the Faulkner Hospital ORs.
According to Kenney, 35 percent of the surgical cases being performed at Faulkner are generated by BWH-based surgeons. He explains that the integration between BWH’s and Faulkner’s surgical services has benefited both institutions. “An increasing number of primary and secondary surgical cases are occurring at Faulkner, while more complex tertiary cases are appropriately being performed at BWH,” he said.
In addition to increasing the physical capacity of its existing operating space, the new OR and subsequent caseload require expanding the current OR staff.
Recruitment for nurses and surgical technicians is currently taking place, as well as hiring additional staff in the pre-operative, day surgery and recovery areas.