Glendale Memorial announces hospital room overhaul, receives record donation
In an address to community leaders and physicians Thursday, officials at Dignity Health Glendale Memorial Hospital outlined plans for improvements to the facility as well as an update on the search for a new president.
In April, Jack Ivie retired as head of Glendale Memorial, and Julie Sprengel, Dignity Health’s senior vice president of operations in the Southern California area, stepped in as interim chief executive to learn about the community and get a sense of the type of person needed to permanently fill the role.
Sprengel has since made major leadership changes. In the past six months, she’s hired a new chief operating officer, chief nursing executive officer and chief medical executive officer.
“I have this new young leadership team that is so motivated to do the right thing, I just don’t want to screw it up,” Sprengel said. “I want to find the right person who is going to lead this team into the future.”
Sprengel said she has a couple of candidates “in the mix” and hopes to name a new chief executive next month.
As Glendale Memorial officials conducted their search for a permanent leader, the hospital continued its three-year initiative to upgrade the wound-care center and gastroenterology lab on its second floor, raising $4.1 million toward a goal of $5 million.
The initiative got an injection of funds Thursday as Sprengel announced the hospital received $2.5 million from the S.H. Ho Foundation. The donation is the largest philanthropic gift in the hospital’s history, according to Wayne Herron, vice president of philanthropy for the Glendale Memorial Health Foundation.
Sprengel also announced plans to convert 80 double rooms — which have two beds with a separating curtain — into single rooms, complete with a patient bed, sofa beds for family members and additional chairs as well as a new paint-and-floor scheme.
“Nobody wants to share a room when you’re not feeling well, and when you’re sick in the hospital, you want your privacy and want to be alone with your family or whoever is there,” Sprengel said. “We decided we’d rather be a smaller hospital that caters to the patient experience.”
A number of “look and feel” changes to the hospital’s first floor have also been made, focused on the eyes of a first-time visitor, Sprengel said. These include warmer colors, a digital nature display wall with music, new furniture and stone tiles. The gift shop has also been remodeled.
Renovations aside, Sprengel said the accomplishment hospital officials are most proud of is the relationship between staff and patients. More than 10,000 patients came through the hospital in 2017 and Sprengel highlighted pain management, communication and responsiveness as three areas where increased positive experiences have been reported in patient surveys.
“Obviously, nobody wants to be in pain, so it’s a priority of ours,” she said. “Communication and responsiveness are tied together. The leading cause of anxiety in the hospital is lack of communication, so we make sure to respond to our patients when they need us and proactively visit them.”
Twitter: @JeffLanda
