SSOE performed a complete renovation of the former surgical suite at Oakwood Hospital & Medical Center. The suite was vacated when the North addition (Fitzgerald Pavilion) was opened and inpatient surgery functions were relocated. SSOE designed a new 53-bed, 23-hour Interim Stay Unit (ISU) to infill the vacant suite.

As the largest nursing unit on campus, the ISU houses short-stay patient rooms and observes patients from several hospital areas consolidating the 23-hour function from various outpatient testing and procedure departments. Emergency, special procedures, catheterization laboratory, general radiology, endoscopy, and ambulatory surgery patients requiring short-term observation or recovery remain in this one central unit until they are prepared to leave the hospital under their own care.

SSOE’s design of the ISU recognizes both patient amenities and staff efficiencies. The facility provides for flexible assignment of beds, varying from Emergency Department Observation Unit (EDOU) cubicles to 23-hour rooms with private toilet areas. Conceptually, the space is divided to accommodate 18, three-walled EDOU cubicles, three private, four-walled EDOU enclosed rooms, 24 short-stay / recovery rooms, and eight short-stay recovery rooms.