The walk-through was a bit premature, as there is probably no worse time to walk through a new building than a month or two before opening, but I was glad at the chance to speak with Dr. Hekman and other folks from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation on site. I have kept in touch over the past two years, and have had many offers to walk through other Family Health Centers but chose to wait until Lakewood was open. Why compare when we can see and be in the real thing?
From the inside top floor you can look out onto DowntowN Lakewood, and for now Lakewood Hospital. That's Dr. Hekman against the wall.
One of the X-Ray machines being moved in and calibrated.
As I mentioned it was premature, and it was nearing the end of construction and the chaos that follows it, but I had a list of questions to ask, and they were more than willing to answer each and every one of them. If you have any questions please post, or send to me. If there is one thing I know, CCF wants Lakewoodites to understand the new facility and what we are getting and how it will serve all of us.
The second floor after getting off the elevators.
Upon walking in you have a corner area designed to help people not just navigate the building but the medical industry. Issues with funding? Issues with health care? They will be able to direct you to programs, doctors, specialists and places to get help in any way that can benefit you and the community. Again having worked with CCF for over a decade and personally knowing many of their Ombudsmen they are very aware of the fears, the problems, and the confusion that comes from walking into a hospital.
On each floor there is a place for primary care doctors to interact all day with nurses, technicians, and assistants, not just bringing them into the same rooms but into community environments to share ideas, information and assist patients.
More parts of the lab are on the second floor. You will still be able to come to the Family Health Center for all your testing needs.
A peek at a nearly finished examining room. Gone are those uncomfortable bench beds, now comfortable recliners that can lay flat if needed. Everything is now computerized as it was before the building, but it's amazing just how much, and how much smaller things have gotten.
Again, there is much work to do before the grand opening, and the crews are working around the clock, and the Cleveland Clinic is still working out many concepts from integrating the new medical school facility to the interns, from waiting areas to doctor lounges, from paint on the wall to art on the wall from Lakewood Artist Liz Maughans. So much to do in so little time!
One look at the Emergency Receiving Room, currently a construction headquarters, see the plans all over the desks point out how much there is left to do.
It is possibly the worse time to go through a new building but the Clinic was more than welcoming allowing me in, answering my questions and promising that by the time it opens, it will be able to handle all of Lakewood's Emergency and Family Health Care needs.
Here is a schedule and a list of services that are being offered, watch for the upcoming story in the print version of the Lakewood Observer.
The Lakewood Family Health Center will open in three phases.
◦ July 11 — Third floor will open
◦ July 16 — Second floor will open
◦ July 24 and 25 — First floor and Emergency Department* will open (Note: the Emergency Department in its current location will remain open until this new location opens.)
Services on each floor of the Lakewood Family Health Center:
• First Floor
◦ 24/7 full-service Emergency Department
▪ 20 Treatment Rooms
▪ Bariatric Treatment Room
▪ Behavioral Health
▪ EMS Room
▪ Ambulance Entrance
▪ Decontamination Room
◦ Art Wall
◦ Imaging
▪ Ultrasound
▪ Mammogram
▪ X-Ray
▪ CT
◦ Patient Navigator
• Second Floor
◦ Stat Lab
◦ Center for Family Medicine
▪ 24 Exam Rooms (including bariatric and alternative medicine rooms)
▪ Family Consult Room
▪ Shared Medical Appointment Room
▪ Conference Room
• Third Floor
◦ Draw Lab (Phlebotomy)
◦ 36 Internal Medicine and Multi-Specialty Exam Rooms for
▪ Geriatrics
▪ Dermatology
▪ Diabetes Education
▪ Diabetic Eye Exams
▪ Endocrinology
▪ Endocrinology Surgery
▪ Pulmonary
▪ Pulmonary Function Testing
▪ Allergy
▪ Allergy / Skin Testing
▪ Neurology
▪ Cardiology
▪ Urology
▪ Nephrology
▪ General Surgery
▪ Pediatric Surgery
▪ Colorectal Surgery
▪ Gastroenterology
▪ Adult Psychiatry
▪ Pediatric Psychiatry
▪ Adult Psychology
◦ Group Education and Shared Medical Appointment Room
◦ LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) Center
▪ The LGBT Center will have providers who understand the health needs of LGBT patients, and access to specialists with expertise in their care
The new Lakewood Family Health Center:
• Cleveland Clinic is proud to be the healthcare provider for the Lakewood community and we are looking forward to providing ongoing care in this new era of healthcare.
• It is our commitment to break down barriers to access for patients at this family health center and to enhance the wellness of Lakewood's neighborhoods.
• The Lakewood Family Health Center is a $34 million facility that will have 62,000 square feet of space.
• The Lakewood Family Health Center will host a variety of services, including a 24/7 emergency department, imaging, blood draw lab, STAT lab, internal medicine, LGBT care, diabetes education, endocrinology, behavioral health and chronic care.
◦ These services are a vital part in taking care of the health and wellness needs specific to Lakewood and surrounding communities as evidenced in our Community Health Needs Assessment.
◦ These primary care and specialty services also collaborate well in support of team based care. These teams working together in one space will promote a high level of communication between providers, patients and all Caregivers to ensure these health needs are met.
▪ Example: Lakewood has a higher rate of smoking; diabetes is an issue in Lakewood – diabetic eye exams, diabetic educator and greater communication reinforce the skills that are needed to manage diabetes.
• The Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program with the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine will also be present at the facility. The medical students will be part of the healthcare team and will serve the community through graduation, residency and board certification. The goal through this is to train physicians in Northeast Ohio and keep them here to practice.
• The Lakewood Family Health Center will have patient-centered exam rooms. These rooms put the patient in the center of the room in a comfortable chair with the ability to recline completely flat into a table if needed.
◦ This position with the patient in the center of the room and the provider facing the patient allows for a more engaged interaction between the two and fosters the undeniably important relationship between the patient and their provider.
◦ A great deal of research was conducted on this exam room to choose the most patient friendly and efficient option.
• The current Lakewood emergency department is consistently above the 90th percentile for patient satisfaction and has an average door-to-doctor time (from the time someone comes into the emergency department until seen by a physician) of well under 12 minutes.
• Through the new Emergency Department, we will continue to provide 24/7 emergency care for all ages, 365 days a year. Some of the types of care the emergency department will treat include:
◦ Abdominal pain
◦ Adult and pediatric conditions (fever, stomach flu, bronchiolitis, dehydration, asthma, etc.)
◦ Behavioral health and chemical dependency evaluations/referrals
◦ Chest pain
◦ Diabetes complications
◦ Broken bones, strains and sprains
◦ Minor trauma (laceration repair)
◦ Severe headache
◦ Stroke symptoms
◦ Other medical emergencies
• The new emergency department will continue to offer board-certified emergency medicine physicians and physician assistants advanced practice providers, registered nurses certified in adult and pediatric advanced cardiac life support, paramedics, respiratory therapists and technicians.
• Cleveland Clinic will continue to provide Medical Control for the Lakewood Fire Department and ongoing education to the paramedics. EMS supplies will be located next to the EMS entrance of the new Emergency Department.
• New additions to the Lakewood Family Health Center’s Emergency Department include imaging equipment (X-ray, CAT scanner), computers, IV pumps and a decontamination room.
• Patient care will finish up in the current Cleveland Clinic Lakewood Emergency Department the evening of July 24. Any patient that comes in at midnight or afterwards on July 25 will be seen in the new Lakewood Family Health Center Emergency Department.
Other Cleveland Clinic services available in Lakewood:
• Lakewood Professional Building (14601 Detroit Ave., Lakewood)
◦ Diabetes Center
◦ Teen Health Center
• Community Health Center (1450 Belle Ave., Lakewood)
◦ Senior Assessment Center
◦ Women’s Health Center
• YMCA (16915 Detroit Ave., Lakewood)
◦ Physical Therapy
• Access to the Cleveland Clinic Mobile Stroke Treatment Unit (an ambulance equipped for on-site stroke diagnosis and treatment):
◦ In 2017, the Mobile Stroke Unit dispatched to Lakewood 37 times – 15 of which resulted in a transport to the nearest stroke centers.
◦ Providing safe, efficient care with a seamless hand-off from emergency personnel is our top focus. The Mobile Stroke Unit, which is integrated into the municipal 911 dispatch system, boasts a critical care team with extensive experience working in and with local rescue squads. The team includes a critical care nurse, an CT technologist, a paramedic and an emergency medical technician who assists with stroke care and drives the unit.
◦ The team uses the unit’s specialized equipment, which includes the following:
▪ A portable CT scanner to wirelessly transmit brain images in real time to Cleveland Clinic neuroradiologists reviewing the case.
▪ A two-way videoconferencing consult system connected 24/7 with Cleveland Clinic stroke neurologists.
▪ Point-of-care lab equipment that allows the team to test blood samples.
▪ The clot-busting drug tPA, which the team administers intravenously if the stroke physicians determine that he patient is having an ischemic stroke.
Once again thank you to the Cleveland Clinic and Dr. Hekman.
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