University of Mississippi Medical Center Short Stay Facility

The primary focus of the UMMC Short Stay Facility is to provide space, within the surgical unit, for recoveries lasting up to 23 hours. The intent of the spatial development was to provide a state of the art, short-term recovery area that also features warm and inviting patient care areas and waiting space.

The design provides 30 surgical prep and recovery beds and one VIP suite for short stay surgical patients. It also provides an area to support the development of the Short Stay Procedure Area (SSPA), Ambulatory Surgery Unit (ASU) and a VIP suite dedicated to patient comfort in recovery. This area will allow beds in the adult hospital to be returned to hospital use.

The concept places the patient as the center of the plan, with maximum use of the infill space to create a superior care center. To ensure the comfort of the patient, the SSPA staff is provided support areas to accomplish their care mission.

To facilitate the development of the SSPA and ASU, the ICU waiting area was relocated, allowing for circulation to be controlled in the surgical area. General circulation was eliminated through the surgery area stopping cross traffic with patients being moved from surgery to recovery. The volunteer office area was also relocated to the existing ICU waiting area during the project’s development.

An extension of the chilled water loop provides building services to the infill area and provides capacity of the cooling water system for future renovations. This 14” chilled water supply and return will support the planned renovations of the old hospital area and is required to utilize the infill space on the first floor and basement area.