New Procedure Room Offers Benefis Endoscopy Patients a Better Experience

Photo credit Parker Ward/Benefis Health System Getting a colonoscopy and other procedures will require less waiting time as Benefis Health System debuted a new Endoscopy Laboratory on Monday, Dec. 2. With a growing number of colorectal cancer diagnoses and new guidelines recommending screenings for younger people, Benefis Endoscopy patients often had to wait six to nine months for their procedures. That prompted an investment in new accommodations, and the health system expects wait times for appointments to drop to 30-60 days. Endoscopy has moved into a newly renovated space in the South Tower on East Campus. The new space is more than double the square footage of the old space in the North Tower (8,700 to 20,000 square feet) with nine procedure rooms instead of five. New waiting rooms and recovery spaces are more private and will help with the bottleneck of procedures, increasing bays from 10 to 24. Endoscopy now has larger procedure rooms to treat patients with upgraded technology. Equipment improvements include the use of weighted bins to track every supply item used during procedures for better efficiency and equipment booms instead of carts to move equipment more easily around the room. Benefis increasingly sees patients with more comorbidities and treats more complex GI conditions. It’s become the standard of practice to use a higher level of sedation for patient comfort than during previous eras. The new space is designed to better accommodate anesthesia equipment and staff. Benefis is growing from two to four full-time gastroenterologists plus a hospitalist. “Doctors, nurses, techs, and lab team members all collaborated for months on the plan for this new space,” Dr. Steven Ayres said. “From the waiting area with a beautiful view to the design of admittance to the recovery, it’s going to feel more private for patients – and there’s no better place to feel privacy than in GI.”