Wired for the future – the best is about to get better

Question: How did you decide which technologies to include in the new hospital?

Answer: Mills-Peninsula has been rated in the top 5 percent of U.S. hospitals for the last three consecutive years, so it’s important to note that many of the cutting edge technologies as well as the excellent patient care we provide will be integrated into the new medical center.

At the same time, building a new hospital has afforded us the opportunity to dream even bigger.

We worked very closely with our community physicians and expert medical staff to determine the best tools to incorporate into our new medical center.

Stereotaxis – a system in which catheters can be manipulated inside the heart using a robotic device driven by magnets – will assist our cardiologists in treating people with irregular heart rhythms. Mills-Peninsula will be the only hospital on the San Francisco Peninsula to offer this state-of-the-art technology.

Our new operating rooms incorporate audio and video. High definition cameras in the OR will capture images that can be sent to displays in conference rooms, other operating rooms or doctor’s offices in other buildings or even other countries.

As we train our staff on the new facility, they will also learn to use several other new high-tech systems. These include wireless patient monitors that interface directly with our electronic medical records and follow vital signs of patients as they move between departments.

Ceiling lifts in every patient room will increase safety for patients and caregivers as they move from bed to chair or bathroom.

A pneumatic tube system will quickly transport specimens, medications and supplies throughout the hospital using radio frequency tracking.

The hospital was also built to accommodate other emerging robotic surgery technologies, an exciting field that we will be keeping a close eye on in the coming years.

Most of the high-tech tools in our new medical center have been funded by our generous philanthropic community. We will continue to count on that support to keep us able to provide the latest medical wonders as we move into our next-generation hospital and beyond.