Wake Forest Baptist Health – Wilkes Medical Center now provides around-the-clock monitoring of its ICU patients by board-certified intensivist physicians, which are doctors specially trained in critical care.
Through a partnership with Advanced ICU Care – a provider of tele-ICU services – patient rooms in the ICU are equipped with two-way video, enabling consultation and constant monitoring between the bedside and the team of doctors and nurses, who are located in centralized operations centers.
This additional layer of monitoring is designed to complement the critical care that is already delivered by physicians and nurses at Wilkes Medical Center.
“We are always looking for ways to provide the highest quality of care for our patients,” said Gene Faile, president of Wilkes Medical Center. “This expanded access to intensivist-led care complements our efforts to provide exceptional critical care and allows more of our patients to stay right here in their own community.”
“This additional support is invaluable to our team, as well as to our patients,” said Susan Bachmeier, M.S.N., R.N., chief nursing officer at Wilkes Medical Center. “Working with the intensivists and clinicians from Advanced ICU Care helps us deliver outstanding critical care to our patients and ensures that help is available when needed.”
Patients’ medications, labs and clinical status are constantly monitored, while proactive data management tools identify problems before they become urgent, prompting immediate intervention when necessary.
“On behalf of the entire Wilkes County EMS team, I’m happy to see Wilkes Medical Center adding this service,” said Tim Pennington, director of Wilkes County EMS. “I am sure this will help keep more patients close to home and close to the support of their families and loved ones.”
Media Contacts:
Carolyn Sheets, casheets@wakehealth.edu, 336-651-8357