For at least two weeks beginning Nov. 13, visitors to St. Luke’s Hospital will need to use the Outpatient Entrance located next to the Emergency Entrance at the back side of the hospital.

 The entrance to St. Luke’s Hospital will soon receive an updated and welcoming interior renovation that begins at the front door and, after several phases, ends with an open and more welcoming Nurses’ Station.

 During construction, traffic will be re-routed towards the back of St. Luke’s where additional visitor parking will be marked with signage and orange cones.

 “It might be a little inconvenient, but we are ecstatic that this $243,000 renovation project is finally underway,” said Cathy Moore, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, chief nursing officer for St. Luke’s Hospital.

 The initial phase of the renovation project includes updates to the front lobby, the St. Luke’s Gift Shop and the small chapel with new flooring, painted walls, new ceilings, updated lighting and contemporary furniture. Plans include a more up-to-date look, providing an inviting and comforting healing environment. The color palate will complement the interior look of the Ortho/Rehab hallway, a 2013 construction project.

 After cosmetic upgrades are completed in the lobby and chapel, improvements will make their way down the 100 Hallway, known as the Med-Surg Hallway. Renovations also include new flooring, new wall color, new handrails, new ceiling tiles, updated lighting and framed artwork of regional, natural scenes.

 Interior doors to the patient rooms will be wrapped in a new durable film material with a deep, rich, cherry finish for aesthetics. “Wrapping” these doors is cost effective and minimizes disruption for patients, visitors and teammates.

 Needed upgrades have been in discussion for two years, but with a $100,000 contribution from St. Luke’s Hospital Foundation and $143,000 carried over from previous budgets, the work can begin. However, the recent hurricanes, floods and fires across the country have posed a challenge for contractors to secure labor and materials for small projects.

 “As a not-for-profit community hospital, St. Luke’s administration and Board of Trustees are always mindful that we must be good stewards of limited resources,” Moore said, “so our desire for renovations to patient rooms has had to wait.”

 Architects with the Spartanburg firm of McMillan, Pazdan, Smith have worked with St. Luke’s on this project and have worked closely with hospital administrators to meet stringent building codes, federal regulations and newer, cost-effective products used in other hospitals, such as the door wraps.

 The first phase includes the main lobby and gift shop. Phase 2 includes the short hallways near the lobby, the chapel and up to the double door separation which begins the patient room portion of the corridor. Upgrades in Phase 3 will include the Med-Surg hallway, with the final work to include the Nurses’ Station and finalization of all finishes to the doors on the patient hallway and the 200 hallway. The entire project should to take five weeks.

 “We have to complete this project in several phases to minimize disruption, but I am thrilled to see it’s finally in process,” Moore said. “For several years, we’ve been listening to the voice of our patients, visitors and teammates, and we’ve heard that we need improved first impressions that support St. Luke’s high quality outcomes, patient satisfaction and employee engagement scores.

 “We believe these aesthetic improvements will make a big difference for patients, visitors and our teammates,” Moore said. “It demonstrates our commitment to provide a comfortable, healing environment in which we will continue to provide exceptional care, close to home.”

– submitted by Kathy Woodham