Essentia Health Gives Firsthand Look at New Cardiac and Intermediate Care Unit

The new unit doesn't just look and feel brand new but the extra bed space and the upgraded technology helps better serve their patients

FARGO, N.D. — Essentia Staff are getting their first look at the new Cardiac and Intermediate Care Unit within the hospital on 32nd Avenue in Fargo.

“People come to Fargo. It’s a destination to come here for this hospital and we want to always provide the best for them,” said Cindy Jorud, the Director of the ICU Cardiac and Immediate Care.

And Essentia Health is doing just that.

Their new Cardiac Intermediate Care Unit is changing the hospital experience for patients.

“We wanted to do something that increased patient efficiency, nursing efficiency, and also just gave the patients a better experience so we really thought about the patient and the family as we designed this area,” Cindy said.

The new unit doesn’t just look and feel brand new but the extra bed space and the upgraded technology helps better serve their patients.

“Like even an electronic white board so instead of just a piece of paper that says you’re in room 348 it’ll download information from the chart,” Cindy said.

Conversation about this new area has been extensive…it isn’t just about new features and more space.

“This room, we really thought about colors and the light and all those things and that’s really how you develop a healing environment for patients,” Cindy said.

And the thought process goes even deeper.

“We even thought about things like patient belongings and how do we manage those after they’re here or how does a family interact with a patient,” Cindy said.

It’s not just those receiving medical care who will notice the changes.

Some veterans are feeling the differences just on their first tour.

“There’s one gal who’s been here for 20 years and she just walked through for the first time. She said I had some anxiety about leaving a unit I had worked in for that long and she said now that I’ve seen it she said I’m just so excited and I get to come to work tomorrow,” Cindy said.

Essentia Health is ever evolving and growing with technology.

Staff say they will continue to work hard to improve the patient experience.

Although the staff were introduced to the new unit today, they will officially begin to move in tomorrow.