New Facilities Opening at Munson Medical Center
The "A Tower," newest addition to the physical plant at Munson, has opened for patient care.
The new emergency department on the ground floor opened for business in early February 2007, and floors A3 (cardiac intensive care and stepdown) and A2 (cardiothoracic surgery and stepdown) were the next to open. These units have been designed with infectious diseases/infection control issues in mind. The emergency department has a decontamination bay off the ambulance entrance so that decontamination washes can be performed if needed. In addition five of the forty emergency department patient rooms are equipped with negative pressure ventilation capability. Ten of the thirty patient rooms of the cardiac care unit (A3) have negative pressure ventilation capability.The fourth floor of the A Tower is the latest floor to open. It provides addition general cardiology and stepdown care.
Antibiotic Management Team
The Antibiotic Management Team, a collaborative effort between Infectious Diseases Consultants and Munson Medical Center Pharmacy, has initiated a more visible and aggressive effort to try to achieve good antibiotic stewardship at Munson Medical Center. Selected antibiotic use (including that of vancomycin, aminoglycosides, aztreonam, Zosyn, and others) are reviewed regularly as to appropriateness. When it appears that more narrow, effective, or safer therapy might be available, prescribing clinicians are contacted with such recommendations. In addition, there might be identified opportunities to change to oral antibiotic therapy (from intravenous) or opportunity to initiate outpatient intravenous therapy (to allow patients to go home).
Antimicrobial Susceptibility Data and Antibiotic Guidelines
The most recent antimicrobial susceptibility data (2006) from nothern Michigan hospitals are now available online. Data from hospitals in Alpena, Charlevoix, Gaylord, Manistee, Petoskey, and Traverse City (Munson Medical Center and affiliated hospitals) are collated annually. These data for bacteria that are common and significant pathogens are useful to clinicians needing to make empiric antibiotic choices in treatment of infectious diseases.
Based on these susceptibility data, national guidelines, and local infectious diseases opinion, updated antibiotic guidelines have also been published. These are intended to guide local clinicians in empiric antibiotic choices for common infectious diseases syndromes pending receipt of specific antibiotic susceptibilities.