“To bring those two together, to really advance the Baylor Scott & White Integrated Care model is something we’re super excited about,” Jessie Everline, director of operations at the Baylor Scott & White Austin-Oak Hill Medical Center, told Community Impact Newspaper while giving a tour of the facility Dec. 17.
Neighboring the new Baylor Scott & White Austin Oak Hill Clinic, which opened in October, the full-service hospital will include an emergency care unit and surgical care services, treating 14 specialities in cooperation with the nextdoor clinic: orthopedics, podiatry, OB-GYN, general surgery, gastroenterology, dermatology, pain management, neurology, cardiology, urology, endocrinology, rheumatology, breast surgery and physical therapy. Patients who visit the clinic for primary care can head nextdoor to the hospital for extended care if needed, and the hospital can easily access records from any Baylor Scott & White clinic.
The hospital’s surgical care unit incorporates technology in each patient’s room that allows nurses to check in on patients remotely. Everline also said that at the new hospital, patients will not have to change rooms if there condition worsens or changes.
“If you go from acute care to critical care, you stay in the same room for the entire duration of your stay,” he said. “We actually bring those services to you, those specialized nurses and physicians, as opposed to having you go to another unit in the hospital.”
Baylor Scott & White physicians are also able to monitor operating room activities remotely through the technology housed in those spaces. Another feature of the operating rooms are windows—a rarity for such facilities, according to Everline—located high enough on the wall to prevent anyone outside from seeing in, but still let in light.
Everline said that Baylor Scott & White prioritized “health care” over “sick care” when planning the hospital, emphasizing preventative medical care through the clinic to prevent hospital stays later on, a mindset he called a “paradigmatic shift” in medicine.
“We really want to ensure that you only come here if you have to,” he said.
In line with that philosophy, flex spaces were built into the facility, such as two rooms that can be converted to full-service operating rooms if the community proves to have demand for the hospital to have more surgical capacity.
Additionally, Everline said that Baylor Scott & White wants patients and their families to have healthy options while visiting the hospital, with a cafeteria that stays open late and offers nourishing food. No vending machines are in the building, but healthy grab-and-go food options will be available after hours.
“We’re focused on health,” Everline said. “How do we make Austin better and advance health overall?”
Baylor Scott & White’s Austin Medical Center is tentatively set to open Jan. 15 at 5251 W. Hwy. 290, Austin, according to the company’s website.
