Inside Duke Medicine

Duke Medicine Pavilion on track to open in July 2013

Duke Medicine Pavilion provides needed capacity to serve more patients.

Duke Medicine Pavilion, a major expansion of Duke University Hospital (DUH) and the next step in the transformation of the Duke medical campus, is well on its way to opening to patients and families next July.

The 608,000-square-foot surgical, imaging and critical care facility will not only transform the look of the campus with its bright windows and spacious public and staff areas, but will also provide needed capacity to enhance Duke’s ability to provide excellent care for patients.

“Right now, all too often, we simply don’t have the capacity to serve all the people that seek care at Duke University Hospital,” said DUH President Kevin Sowers, RN, MSN, FAAN. “Duke Medicine Pavilion provides the space we critically need to relieve those capacity pressures and be prepared for the future.”

Together with the subsequent renovations to Duke Hospital, the Duke Medicine Pavilion (DMP) project represents the next evolutionary step in our ability to provide world-class sophisticated and high-quality care to our patients, Sowers said.

Since construction of the DMP began in late fall 2009, workers have completed the DMP’s eight concrete floors and its striking exterior, erected interior walls and installed hundreds of miles of wire and thousands of lighting fixtures. Currently, crews are installing casework and equipment booms in the DMP’s 160 patient rooms.

The DMP was designed to coordinate and integrate with Duke Hospital and with Duke University Health System as whole, said Jeff Langdon, DUH administrative director.

To create continuity with DUH, the DMP’s Level 3 will house Pre-Op/PACU and operating rooms, while the Duke Heart Center, across the hospital and the DMP, will be centralized on Level 7.

“The DMP also aligns with what is going on across Duke Medicine,” Langdon said. “For example, Duke Maestro Care electronic health record will be live in the DMP on the day it opens to patients.”

With more space and better physical integration and coordination, the DMP supports the growth of the widely respected surgical programs at Duke Hospital, including spine, oncology services including brain tumor, heart surgery, orthopedics and general surgery.

Currently, workers are installing the intraoperative CT and MRI on Level 3. These SUV-sized imaging machines will move on overhead rails – the CT between a pair of ORs and the MRI between a neighboring pair – meaning that patients won't have to be moved from the OR to be imaged. This differentiating technology will allow for greater patient safety, surgical efficiency, and improved outcomes.

“So much thought and care has gone into the DMP,” said Lisa Pickett, M.D., chief medical officer of Duke University Hospital. “Faculty and staff were invited to experience mock-ups and were consulted for feedback.”

In addition to creating a space focused on providing high-quality, patient-centered care, the DMP will also be a comfortable workspace. Traffic flow patterns on each floor have been carefully designed to create secure “off-stage” areas for staff. Landscaped light wells will allow natural light to flow down into staff spaces on Levels 6, 7 and 8.

The DMP’s many ultra-modern features, along with subsequent renovations throughout Duke University Hospital, will enable DUH to continue providing excellent care well into the future, she said.