As University of New Mexico Hospital Critical Care Tower (CCT) accepts its first patients, it will usher in a new phase of care for New Mexicans.
The CCT features an expanded Adult Emergency Department with 68 new beds.
It also creates a total of 96 intensive care beds throughout the facility, a second helipad, a new surgical suite with 18 operating rooms, and some of the most advanced medical technology in the country. The CCT was first proposed in 2015.
On Sept. 26, UNM Hospital CEO Kate Becker addressed the hundreds of engineers, construction workers, trades and facilities professionals whose hard work over several years made the project a reality.
“It’s been incredible to see all the pieces of the CCT come to life — from the installation of high-tech medical equipment to the hanging of beautiful art pieces that now brighten up the walls,” Becker said. “So many of you have worked incredibly hard to prepare the CCT for each other and for patients and their families. The opening of the Critical Care Tower is possible because of your commitment to improving health care services for all.”
As New Mexico’s largest teaching hospital, UNM Hospital ensured the CCT has ample spaces for training and meetings. The entire fourth floor is called The Sky Campus and is inaccessible to patients and visitors.
The Sky Campus is a multi-use space. Employees will be able to grab meals and snacks from one of several eating lounges. Resident physicians training at UNM Hospital will be able to rest in 22 private rooms, providers and staff will be able to use thousands of lockers to securely store personal items and to dress in and out of work scrubs, and much of the floor is dedicated to meeting rooms for educational purposes.
“This is a special place, the embodiment of the kind of health care providers and educators we are — as well as the kind we still aspire to be,” said UNM President Garnett S. Stokes. “It is also a welcoming place, providing convenient and more supportive access to health care, while also making visitors and our Lobo health care providers feel more at ease — and, hopefully, more at home.”
At 5 a.m. Oct. 5, all adult emergency care will be routed to the CCT, and hundreds of current patients from older parts of UNM Hospital, will be transferred to the new CCT Emergency Department and intensive care units.
The Chamber congratulates UNM and its staff for pushing the CCT forward to continue to make inroads in advancing and improving New Mexico’s health care system.
