Newspaper Page Text
SEPTEMBER 27, 1952
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
ELEVEN
Legal Advisor
Most Modern and Efficient Features of
Hospital Design and Construction Are
Incorporated in St. Joseph's, Augusta
AUGUSTA, Ga. —In undertak-ideal for location of a hospital
W. INMAN CURRY
Through the legal aid which he
rendered voluntarily to the late
John W. Ransome, who assisted
in securing Federal funds for St.
Joseph’s Hospital in Augusta
under the Hill-Burton Act, and
for his advice to the building
committee, W. Inman Curry,
prominent Augusta attorney has
earned the gratitude Of all who
are interested in the Sisters’
hospital project.
* Hospital Building
Committee Chairman
ALVIN M. McAULIFFE
One of the first to take active
interest in the proposal to erect a
Catholic hospital in Augusta, was
Alvin M. McAuliffe, prominent in
teal estate and insurance circles,
who has had a leading role in the
project. Mr. McAuliffe has headed
the hospital building commitee
Since the death of Ferdinand Phin-
izy, the original chairman,
ing the designing of the new St.
Joseph’s Hospital building certain
fundamental requirements were es
tablished by the hospital commit
tee, the administrator and the ar
chitects as of primary importance
in the concept of the final plans,
and although each of the problems
normally encountered in the plan
ning of a hospital were constantly
in mind, always the requirement
to be first satisfied was the well
being of the patient.
It was recognized that any hos
pital is only as good as the ser
vice it affords its patients, and
the idea that beds are the most
important item in hospital plan
ning was never considered since
beds are useless if the hospital
does not have adequate, well
placed facilities with which to care
for the patients who occupy these
beds. At the same time, care
was taken that the best hospital
beds that could be procured would
be used at St. Joseph’s.
Considered of equal importance
to the providing of every facility
for the proper diagnosis, care and
treatment of patients, an attempt
has been made to dispel entirely
from the patient’s mind the once
prevalent concept that a hospital
is a place where the patient is
taken because he is either so near
death that he had been brought
there to die or because his stricken
condition has caused him to be
come too much of a care to his
family; rather, throughout the
plans the most minute detail has
been considered from the point of
view of the patient’s comfort and
peace of mind with an attempt to
provide a building that will en
gender confidence on the part of
the patient and where he can
realize complete relaxation with
knowledge that he has entered the
hospital for his own wellbeing,
where he can have the best of care
by trained personnel, who will rec
ognize his needs, and in an atmos
phere more useful, but equally as
attractive, as if he were in his own
home.
In order to achieve this atmos
phere and feeling of confidence on
the part of the patient, the funda
mental theme of the plan was es
tablished. First consideration was
given to the complete segregation
of the nursing units or areas in
which the admitted patients are
cared for so that there would be
as little needless disturbing traffic
in the patient corridors as possible
and the entire areas considered
as quiet zones. To further accom
plish this result sound deadening
materials are used in the corridors
and in the construction of the par
titions between the corridors and
patients’ rooms themselves.
The people of Augusta are most
fortunate in the site that has been
purchased for the hospital in that
it entirely satisfies every require
ment that would be considered
This seventeen-acre site is located
one block south of the Wrights-
boro Road and entered by exten
sion of Winter Street. Not only is
it conveniently located both to
pedestrian and automotive traffic
but it is ideally oriented, sloping
gently to the South with a fall o£ 65
feet from extreme corners of the
property and looking out over the
vast panorama of the Savannah
River Valley, and the bounding
wooded hills without interruption
by nearby residential or other con
struction.
In planning the nursing units
advantage has been taken of this
feature of the site by placing the
offset corridors of the nursing unit
to run in an East-West direction
with the patient rooms in general
located along the south side of the
corridor and with extensive glass
areas, so arranged they will have
the benefit of the therapeutic
value of not only the view afforded,
but the sunshine during the winter
months when the orbit of the sun
is low in the heavens.
The design of the hospital pro
vides on the Southern exposure
wide overhanging ledges above the
windows at each floor so that not
only are the rooms protected from
the heat and glare of the hot over
head summer sun, but protection
is afforded so that windows can be
left open to allow ventilation dur
ing rain storms without penetra
tion of rain within the rooms. This
has the additional advantage of
placing the narrow end of the
building toward the West where
only a relatively small wall area
will be exposed to the hot after
noon sun, and at the East end of
•the building looking out to the
Southeast is located a solarium for
the use of ambulatory patients, and
visitors.
The plan provides for various
types of accommodations, there
being private or single bed rooms,
semi-private rooms having two pa
tients to a room, in order to pro
vide the type of service that may
be required to conform either to
the patient’s physical condition or
his economic status.
Recognizing the trend toward
early ambulation of patients as a
result of present day medical and
surgical knowledge, each patient’s
room opens directly into a small
lavatory ' and toilet room. This
feature will not only provide a con
venience for patients, but will save
nurses and attendants many hours
and steps, resulting in their hav
ing more time to attend to other
needs of the patients.
The nursing Stations are located
on each floor at a central location
on the opposite side of the cor
ridor from the patients’ rooms
where they will have an uninter
rupted view of the patient signal
lights and along the North side of
the corridor of either side of the
nursing units are in the various
service facilities, such as floor
Sister Bonaventure
Heads St. Joseph's
Infirmary, Atlanta
Hospitality Is An Art
Coke Makes It So
NHtM V«*H AVfWOMt* •# H* M
AUGUSTA COCA-COLA BOTTLING COMPANY
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA
pantry, utility rooms, linen rooms,
sterile supply rooms, a flower room,
treatment rooms, and isolation
wards. Thus not only does the
plan arrangement lessen distur
bance to the patients in their
rooms, but these services are rele
gated entirely .to the Northern ex
posure, making all space on the
South side of the corridor avail
able for the patients’ rooms.
At each floor an elevator lobby
with lounge space for visitors is
provided separate from the corri
dor so that clanging of elevator
doors, even though of the quiet
operating type and conservation of
awaiting visitors will not be dis
turbing to the patients.
Color schemes for decoration of
the rooms have been worked out so
the therapeutic value of color is
recognized and careful considera
tion was given to the selection of
the colors with respect to the ex
posures of the different rooms,
their uses, and the pleasing and
psychological effect on the patients
and staff.
The nursing units on floors
where the- patients will be cared
for having received first considera
tion in the placement of this ele
ment in the overall plan, the other
elements providing supplimental
facilities had to be carefully
studied for their relationship to
each other and to the nursing
units.
The elements required for a hos
pital can be divided into major
groupings as-follows:
The administrative area where
the business offices of the hospital
are located, provides for patients’
and visitors’; entrance and lounge
space for accommodation of visi
tors and patients to be admitted.
The attractive lounge is partial
ly screened from the entrance
lobby and will look out over a land
scaped and grass area to the view
of the Southeast. A small separate
waiting area is provided outside
the admitting offices so that enter
ing patients or their relatives,
when applying for admittance, can
give personal information in priv-
vacy within the admitting office.
The entrance lobby, lounge, and
an adjoining small retiring room
for relatives of seriously ill pat
ients and for private consultation
with attending physicians are con
veniently located for immediate ac
cess to the elevator lobby for visit
ing the patients in the nursing
units.. It was considered very im
portant to locate the main entrance
of the hospital at a point where
visitors can reach the nursing areas
without traveling the sarne corri
dors’ used by patients being taken
to and from diagnostic, surgical or
emergency areas and this feature
has been accomplished.
A feature of the hospital will be
the hospitality shop or canteen
where .magazines and other gifts
intended to cheer the patients can
be purchased by visitors and where
refreshments will be available for
visitors, staff, hospital personnel
and ambulatory patients.
Contrary to the outmoded prac
tice of placing the surgical Suite
with operating rooms on the top
floor of the building, because of
the necessity of skylights to pro
vide proper lighting, the surgical
shite is located on the first floor
in a one story wing to the North of
the nursing unit wing. Such an
arrangement is made possible by
air-conditioning the operating
rooms and by modern operating
lights which afford better illumi
nation for the surgeon than can be
had from windows and skylights
and without glare or dust intru-
sion.
In this same wing will be located
the diagnostic and adjunct facili
ties such as the laboratory, radio-
graphic and flouroscopic suites,
cystoscopy room, staff lounge and
conference room and the medical
record room, as well as the ambu
lance entrance and emergency
suite.
All of these facilities are readily
accessible to nursing units, the ad
ministration area, and to each
other by a patient’s corridor en
tirely segregated from the corri
dor used by the visiting public.
The placing of these facilities
convenient to each other will elim
inate confusion and waste of effort
within the hospital, and may be
the means of saving lives because
of elimination of delay as in the
case of major operations required
for emergency patients or need for
the X-ray technician in connection
with work carried out in the frac
ture or operating rooms.
Also located on this floor, con-
ATLANTA, Ga. — Sister Mary
Bonaventure, R. S. M., who has
been serving as Director of the
School of Nursing at St. Joseph’s
Infirmary for the past five years,
has been named administrator of
the infirmary to succeed Sister
Mary Cornile, R. S. M., who has
volunteered for service at a leper
colony in the British West Indies.
Both Sister Bonaventure and
Sister Cornile are natives of Sa
vannah, and both hold masters’
degree in hospital administration
from the Catholic University of
America.
venient to both the operating suite
on/I fVin mivoincf unite
fral supply and sterilizing room
and which will be under the sup
ervision of the Surgical Super
visor. All unsterile items used
throughout the hospital will be re
turned to the unsterile area of f
central supply where they will be
put through high pressure steam
sterilizers and then stored in the
sterile area ready for distribution
and used as needed. With this
system of central supply one per
son is in charge and responsible
for the issue Of all items used, and
not only is waste and breakage re
duced with a minimum of person
nel required, but need for provid
ing duplication of sterilizers, in
struments and supplies in many in
stances is eliminated because of
their ready availability at a central
point.
On the ground floor area, which
will be at grade level on the South-
side of the building the various ser
vice facilities will be located. Here
at a central point all supplies will
be received, and all personnel will
enter and leave at a common point
and under the supervision of one
person.
On this level the kitchen, gen
eral storage space, boiler room,
locker rooms and dining rooms for
members of the staff, Sisters,
nurses, and other hospital person
nel will be located.
Sister Mary Louise has placed
great importance on the provision
of adequate and attractive locker
rooms, rest rooms and dining
rooms for the personnel of the
hospital, stating that we must take
a lesson from modern industry in
this respect and that regard for
the comfort and well being of the
hospital employees will result in
better treatment of the patients.
The service facilities are all to
be placed on the North side of the
building opposite from the side of
the patient rooms so that there
will be no noise carrying to the
floors above. The dining rooms
will look out to the Southeast, and
have the same view as that afford
ed the patient rooms.
The location of the chapel in
the hospital was considered to be
of major importance since it should
be equally accessible to visitors,
patients, the Sisters and other per
sonnel of the hospital.
In developing the site plan,
stress has been placed upon pro
viding easy access to the building
at convenient points for visitors,
patients being admitted,, out pa
tients, members of the staff, other
hospital personnel, ambulance, and
service. Ample parking space is
provided for visitors, and separate
parking spaces are provided for
doctors and hospital personnel.
The main entrance to the hos
pital will be an extension of Win
ter street and as one approaches
the hospital you will see the view
down the Savannah River Valley
beyond the building and a beauti
fully landscaped area immediately
at the building.
A separate entrance for ambu
lances and service trucks is pro
vided from Anthony Road.
The exterior of the building is
a reflection of the plan in which
the primary consideration was the
welfare of the patient and the co
ordination of the facilities required
for his welfare. The idea has been
to create a building of simple
dignity in domestic scale rather
than a cold and austere monument
as is so often the case in hospital
design.
The normal capacity of the hos
pital will be 100 beds, which can
be increased to a maximum capa
city of 117 beds, not including
hactiiript*!
There will be three major op
erating rooms and a separate frac
ture room, also a separate nursing
area for pediatric patients.
AH adjunct facilities have been
designed to take care of a hospital
with a capacity of 150 to 200 beds,
anticipating probable additional
nursing floors for patients includ
ing provision for installing a third
elevator when the number of beds
hi/miM ha innroqcP/J