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                           JeffNEWS, April 1995
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Psychiatry's Renovated 14th Floor Unit Tailored to Patients' Comfort
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Everything looks fresh and beautiful when you walk off the elevators into the
newly renovated inpatient unit of the department of psychiatry on the
Thompson Building's 14th floor. 

The area was renovated from wall to wall with new windows, central air
conditioning, and a pale peach and aqua color scheme that creates a feeling
of spaciousness and light. In addition, rooms are arranged so that related
functions are close together. 

"Our locked unit is the nicest of any I've visited in the city," said unit
co-director, Robert C. Alexander, MD, associate professor of psychiatry and
human behavior.

Dr. Alexander explained the need for having a locked unit for the 14th-floor 
patients. "Their illnesses are such that they have a limited understanding
of their need for treatment. This way, we can better assure their safety."

"In planning the renovations, we were also aware of making the environment
appealing to families when they come here for meetings and to arrange other
aspects of the patient's treatment and discharge," said unit co-director,
Shimon Waldfogel, MD, assistant professor in the department.

"In keeping with Jefferson's commitment to patient care, the hospital
sought the most appropriate accommodations possible for our patients," Dr.
Waldfogel said.

Most of the unit's patients have schizophrenia and manic depressive, or
bipolar, illness, according to Dr. Alexander. "Medication is the mainstay of
treatment; and, in addition, patients participate in group and individual
therapy along with the creative arts therapies and ward activities to
improve their ability to function in a wide range of life situations."

The unit accommodates 16 patients, with varying needs, who stay for
approximately 12 days, said Stephen L. Schwartz, MD, clinical associate
professor in the department and director of inpatient psychiatry.

"To address the general needs of our patients, as well as the particular
needs some of them have, we incorporated many special features into the
unit's design and furnishings," Dr. Schwartz said. 

For example:

   o Beds in most rooms are not hospital beds, but are homelike in
     design and made of a warm-toned wood.
   o Two rooms for patients who may have contagious respiratory
     diseases are designed so that airflow is filtered and vented
     directly outside to curb the spread of infection.
   o Two rooms for people in wheelchairs, with two beds each, have
     doors the proper width and bathrooms with fixtures at the proper
     height to accommodate a wheelchair.
   o There are a patient lounge and a dining room with a six-burner
     stove where the patients have their weekly cooking group, and
     another room for art, music and movement therapy, and crafts
     where movement therapist Donna Conwell, MCAT, and art therapist
     Doreen DiMonte, MA, conduct daily sessions.

Donna Kovach, RN, MSN, nurse manager of the unit, said that the
accessibility and design of the unit's new seclusion suite "maximizes
the ability to provide intensive treatment to the most acutely ill
patients." 

"Many months of planning and attention to detail have yielded an environment
that is extremely safe and aesthetically pleasing," said clinical
specialist, Andrew Wade, RN, MSN.

Another reaction about what the staff thought the new quarters would mean
for the patients came from social worker, Deborah Mikola, BSW, who said,
"It's wonderful. I think this will have a big impact on them."

Ms. Mikola added that "most of the treatment team has been together for the
last five years so when some of the patients need to return for additional
treatment, it's nice for them to see familiar faces." She is one of two
social workers - the other is Patty Stegman, ACSW, MSW.

"Many of our patients have serious physical illnesses, as well. Being at
Jefferson, a sophisticated medical center, affords us ready access to
consultants in the general fields of medicine and surgery," Dr. Alexander
said.


Team Effort Makes New Unit a Reality
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Psychiatry and human behavior's renovated locked unit on the Thompson
Building's 14th floor owes a great deal to several Jeffersonians who were
closely involved with the unit's design and construction.

Among those who contributed greatly to this effort were Donna Kovach, RN,
MSN, nurse manager; Andrew Wade, RN, MSN, clinical specialist; Diane Peters,
RN, MSN, assistant nursing director; unit co-directors, Robert C. Alexander,
MD, associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior, and Shimon
Waldfogel, MD, assistant professor in the department; Stephen L. Schwartz,
MD, clinical associate professor in the department and director of inpatient
psychiatry; Leslie Davis, administrator for clinical programs; Susan Milner,
director of space development for patient programs; Barney Cassidy, director
of facilities design and construction, and his staff, including Edward J.
Schultz, construction manager.


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Information provided by:  Editor, JeffNEWS
                          (215) 955-6204
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