On April 12
th, Southern NH Health leadership and staff and Nashua Mayor Jim Donchess gathered for remarks and a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially announce the newly renovated and expanded Digestive Health location in the endoscopy suite. Ranging from bariatrics with Southern NH Weight Management, Foundation Gastroenterology and Colon and Rectal Surgery, this new Digestive Health space serves a variety of care needs for patients, in a collaborative, integrated way.
This improvement project to overhaul the previous endoscopy suite began in 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted with much of the work being put on hold temporarily. Now, this newly-renovated space and leading technology is available for patients.
Featured improvements to this location include:
- Increased patient access: Bringing these services together and moving our front door makes it easier overall for our patients to receive the care they need, right here.
- Combined prep and recovery areas: A centralized nurse’s station creates a more seamless experience for our patients and helps to improve efficiency.
- Larger overall footprint, with four additional bays: Two bays are for admission and two are for recovery.
- More patient bathrooms: Increased the number of bathrooms from six to nine and relocated some bathrooms for patient comfort and convenience.
- New pre-operative check-in area: Previously, the check-in area was further away from the department—this area is now easy for patients to locate, a shorter distance from check in to patient bay, which helps with efficiency.
- New processing room for scopes: This area has improved significantly with the new installation of ergonomic sinks, reducing staff fatigue and potential risk of injury.
- Updated reprocessing space: Meets best practice standards, including a pass-through window to improve one directional cleaning process and new endoscope drying cabinets to reduce moisture within the instrument and improve storage recommendations.
- Updated procedure rooms: Two rooms received a complete makeover including new lighting fixtures and new fluoroscopy unit for advanced procedures.
- New procedure rooms: Two rooms were brand new construction, one of which is a negative pressure room and the other includes a new state-of-the-art equipment boom.