BWFH perioperative staff celebrate record surgical volume for the month of January

Among Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital’s goals for fiscal year 2020 is Financial Strength. In order to achieve this goal, one area of focus is growth in surgical volume. In the month of January, the perioperative staff proved they are well on their way to exceeding expectations by completing 1,054 surgical cases—an all-time monthly record for the operating rooms.

OR Nurse Director Patrice Baril, MSN, RN, CNOR, says the number of surgical cases taking place in BWFH’s ORs is increasing daily due to several factors, including new surgeons requesting OR time and more ambulatory cases shifting from Brigham and Women’s Hospital to BWFH. “Many of the ambulatory surgeries, especially in gynecology, urology and hand surgery, require less time per case, meaning the surgeons can fit more cases in each day,” explains Baril.

But, regardless of the length of time the patient is actually in the OR, the staff still has to prep each patient and each room for each case, meaning the staff is working extra hard to handle the increased volume.

“They do a fabulous job every day,” says Baril of her staff. “But to put through the volume that they put through in the month of January is just beyond comprehension to me. They have really stepped up. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”  

Baril also noted that surgical cases take an entire team to perform and wants to recognize the contribution of the anesthesia and perianesthesia teams. “They get our patients ready for surgery in a timely manner, enabling us all to meet our goal of providing safe and efficient surgical journeys to all our patients, each and every day,” she says.

To mark the occasion and thank them for their commitment to patient care, the perioperative staff were treated to a special celebratory breakfast from Senior Leadership where Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President of Patient Care Services Cori Loescher, MM, BSN, RN, NEA-BC, congratulated them for their hard work and commitment to safe patient care.