RAPID CITY, S.D. – Monument Health has expanded its Intensive Care Unit capacity, completing construction of six new ICU rooms at its Rapid City Hospital. The new rooms are a response to expanding demand for medical and surgical services, especially cardio-thoracic surgery, at Monument Health.
“Bringing six more ICU rooms online fills an important need for our region. We will be able to take care of more people than ever before, and we can care for more patients sent to us from community hospitals in the area,” said Paulette Davidson, Monument Health President and CEO.
Monument Health cardiovascular specialists, cardiothoracic surgeons, intensivists and other specialists are providing increasingly complex care to patients at Rapid City Hospital, which increases the need for ICU rooms, said George Sazama, RN, Director of Intensive Care at Rapid City Hospital.
The rooms are on the fifth floor of Rapid City Hospital in a newly remodeled and refitted patient care area. The new rooms represent a $2.3 million investment by Monument Health.
To accommodate more equipment, monitors and medical staff, the rooms are two to three times the size of a standard hospital room. In addition, the new rooms have extra oxygen lines and other infrastructure to allow for a higher level of care. ICU rooms have large glass doors so nurses can better observe patients in their care.
