Campus History

Pulling Back the Curtain to Take a Peek at the Third Floor Operating Rooms

Pulling Back the Curtain to Take a Peek at the Third Floor Operating Rooms

As the project moves closer to completion, it is very exciting to see the various rooms in the hospital coming together .

Perhaps a more pedestrian term for PACU is the “Recovery Room.” The Recovery Room is the room where the family knows the operation is over. For most post op patients this unit is not the happiest place on earth. The patient slowly wakes up as their vital signs are closely monitored, IV fluids are given, and pain management begins. From the PACU, the patient will be taken to a predetermined room based on the level of care the patient will require.
The first operating room, I looked into is designated as a specialty operating room. I was somewhat disappointed to see an empty room, There was no equipment. But, the floor was in and a protective covering had been placed over the surface. Some ceiling hatch doors were open, which gave the appearance that equipment would be forthcoming.
Opening the door to the next specialty operating room, I found a room with equipment hanging from the ceiling. Wow, this is what I’m talking about.
Operating room two (2) from another angle. The hunt was on for an operating room that had the equipment sans the plastic covering.
After exiting the second operating room, I poked my head in the southeast corner conference room, which is being used as “Fibber McGee” clutter room.
The south door of the conference room opens to a long semi-restricted corridor that runs the total length of the building. The south wall is window panels that look out over the emergency room parking lot, Barton Road, and parking structure P4. The rooms at the right are narrow and backup to operating rooms. These rooms include: equipment storage, housekeeping and equipment, work rooms, narrow conference room, and scrub stations.
Making my way down the semi-restricted corridor from the southeast conference room, the second door to the right granted entrance into a wide hallway, which has been designated as a clean area. To the right were the two operating rooms, I had just photographed. I was curious about the room with the open door to the left where the laborer is kneeling. I could hear voices, and upon entering the room, I was pleasantly surprised!
The left side of the operating room was crammed full of equipment sitting on wooden pallets. There was a path bisecting the room that led to a double door at the other end of the operating suite. One of the technicians, seemingly buried in the equipment was trying to relocate a ladder in order to move a lift onto the masonite protecting the recently laid flooring. Seeing the two technician, the thought occurred to me that they may be getting ready to install a piece of equipment. Could I be so lucky? I made my way through the maze of equipment where there was a better view of their work area. Sure enough, I had arrived at the right time….
An equipment lift is positioned to hoist a Trumpf Medical supply unit to the ceiling where it will be anchored.
After a couple of turns of the hand crank, one technician (right) stops to check the positioning while the other technician collects the nuts that will anchor the unit to the pre-installed mounting bolts,
The Video: Two technicians install the medical supply unit in under three minutes.
An installed medical supply unit (center right).
Another operating room that has all the ceiling mounted equipment installed and is being used temporarily to store cabinet millwork.
One of the many scub stations positioned around the various operating rooms.

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Dennis E. Park, MA
After graduate school Dennis accepted a position at Loma Linda University. He worked there for 42 years in the areas of administration and financial management, also teaching accounting and management to dietetic students at the School of Public Health. Through the years Dennis has chronicled the growth of the campus, including the construction of the Drayson Center and the Centennial Complex and the razing of Gentry Gym. He is the author of "The Mound City Chronicles: A Pictorial History of Loma Linda University, A Health Sciences Institution 1905 - 2005." dEp 09.30.2016 🔨

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