New orthopedic center opens
Payson unit hopes to ease recovery from joint replacement
The center is the first of its particular kind in Utah County and hopes to draw patients from around the state.
"As it is now, we get patients from all over the state," said Kimball Anderson, Mountain View Hospital's chief operating officer. "They come from the rural counties, as well as all over Utah County, to come here for joint replacement. So the whole idea kind of evolves around the fact that we have an excellent medical staff, a well-trained nursing staff and (operating room) crew, what can we do to make it unique and better."
While most orthopedic procedures are outpatient, joint replacement patients typically stay in the hospital for three or four days after surgery. The center has focused on making that recovery time less isolated and taking a more team-based approach.
"Instead of a hospital stay, it's more of a camp experience," Anderson said. "The whole idea is for them to be with people that are experiencing similar conditions and circumstances, and encourage each other, socialize."
"Even the first day when they come out of surgery, we put them in a chair and wheel them down to the dining room to eat, rather than bring the tray in here and have them be isolated," he said. "These are well patients, they don't have a lot of medical issues going on. Their joints are wearing out, but other than that, they can be mobile and active as quickly as we can get them there."
Anderson said the hospital has already been rated among the best in Utah for orthopedic procedures and decided to create the center partly to draw additional patients.
"It was basically physicians recognizing an opportunity, and a hospital willing to meet the patients' needs," he said. "We recognized that we had a good thing going, we had a good program, because the outcomes indicated that. So we thought, what can we do to improve what we do and make it a destination."
A key aspect of the center's approach includes thorough patient education. Center Director Evan Christensen said his staff works with patients before surgery, setting expectations and educating patients about their post-op needs.
"It starts way before surgery, educating them on what to do, how to do it: the physical therapy, all the exercises, getting their home ready before surgery, all that stuff is all part of this unit," he said. "It's not focusing on just the hospital stay, which is only four or five days, but on patient education."
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