New operating rooms keep U-M on cutting edge

Monday marks the opening of four new state-of-the-art operating rooms at University Hospital.

These new ORs will primarily be utilized by the neurosurgery and Orthopaetic surgery departments. This expansion project increases the number of ORs in University Hospital to 32 and creates a new total of 78 at UMHS.

Two of the new ORs will allow neurosurgery to expand their services in complex cranial and spinal surgery. The other two will provide a more efficient layout for robotic-assisted joint replacement surgery and 3-D image-guided spinal surgery.

The newest technology

The new rooms feature cutting-edge technology to ensure the best possible patient outcomes. Some of the new technology includes surgical positioning systems, new microscopes, 3D image-guided navigation systems and robotics.

The ORs are also fully integrated, allowing the use of advanced imaging and facilitating communication between members of the surgical team. Nearly 11 miles of conduit and more than 44 miles of wire/cable were installed in these ORs.

Increased capacity

While the new facilities will be used primarily for Orthopaetics and neurosurgery, other surgical departments, including general surgery, urology, otolaryngology and plastic surgery will benefit from increased OR capacity.

Increasing access for surgical patients is an essential goal for the UMHS team.

Utilizing employee feedback

The new operating room design resulted from a complex planning process.

A full-scale model of each room was constructed off-site to allow open access for the entire surgical team to try new ideas, understand equipment space requirements, movement patterns and functionality.

Use of this model enabled instant feedback and adjustments to the room layout during the design phase, as opposed to the construction phase. This strategy resulted in a stream-lined design build process that will continue to be used for future OR projects.