Building for the Future
Deborah Heart and Lung Center is currently in the midst of an $8 million capital expansion plan. The multi-piece renovation package, with several new upgrades, paves the way to the Deborah of the future and builds on the hospital’s regional strengths. First, a new Electrophysiology suite is planned to include a well-equipped prep area, recovery area, and three state-of-the-art labs, where patients who need device therapy (pacemakers and defibrillators) can receive unparalleled care.

“We have the premier Electro-Mechanical Therapy Program in South Jersey/Delaware Valley,” said John Ernst, Deborah’s President and CEO. “These upgrades will support the hospital as the region’s center for heart failure treatment.”

Other hospital upgrades include a dramatic renovation in patient rooms, with the addition of private suites geared to the changing tastes and expectations of baby-boomers, who want higher quality hospital accommodations. “We will have 14 private patient rooms and two isolation rooms,” said Ernst, noting that this is the first patient room upgrade at Deborah since 1979.

Besides hotel-like comfort, the rooms will de-emphasize the hospital-atmosphere, with a more hotel-like environment. A companion cutting-edge, state-of-the-art nursing area will set the stage for supporting Deborah’s nurses, whose technical skills and standards of patient care are renowned throughout the area.

Finally, the hospital is installing an area for mobile PET-CT scans that will aid in the detection of lung cancer tumors, and an MRI for enhanced cardiac perfusion studies. “Looking at the long-range,” added Ernst, “we know where the future of heart care is going to be. This capital improvement project will ensure that we will be right at the front ready to capture the market and the patients, who will find that Deborah is the best and only place to go for the quality of care they demand.”