Rambam Health Care Campus has opened its new, isolated, COVID-19 department, after being chosen to do so by Israel’s Ministry of Health. The department has been outfitted to meet the medical and non-medical needs of patients in Northern Israel, and is designed to maximize the safety and wellbeing of both patients and staff.
The “Crown” Department enables conversation with patients from the control room, via continuous video contact between patients and the caregiver team. Photography: Courtesy of Rambam HCC
Rambam Health Care Campus officially opened a new isolated, and dedicated department for treating COVID -19 this past Monday, officially named the “Crown Department.” Members of the medical, nursing, and administrative management teams worked tirelessly over the past few days to ensure that everything went according to plan and to resolve any difficulties that might arise. This state-of-the-art department is designed to accommodate 30 patients, with two to four patients per room as well as two rooms for treating respiratory patients. The department is also preparing to receive pregnant women and children if needed. All patients will have phones and video equipment to maintain contact with the department’s medical team, as well as family and friends.
The Crown Department has received five patients so far. The first patient is a 40-year-old male from Central Israel, who arrived via ambulance in good condition and walked to his room. The second patient is a 73-year-old from Haifa, who was also the first patient in Israel to be connected to a new remote physical monitoring system. The system was developed by Israeli startup Biobeat, and uses a series of wireless stickers to allow for continuous monitoring of the patient’s essential metrics like breathing, pulse, body temperature and more. The system continuously transmits information to control monitors, allowing the patient to be monitored by hospital staff without physical contact. This is the first time the system is being used in Israel.
Dr. Michael Halberthal, the Director General of Rambam, said, “I want to thank the dozens of staff members—doctors, nurses, maintenance, and others—who worked together with the hospital administration to build the department and did amazing work. The hospital staff has once again proved its strength and dedication. We are once again fulfilling our mandate to provide quality care for our patients.”
One of the difficulties that these patients will face in isolation is physical inactivity and the lack of a place to walk around and stretch their legs. To that end, Rambam joined forces with an Israeli branch of the international sporting goods chain Decathlon, which has donated exercise equipment to the new department (pictured on the right).
Read this Jerusalem Post article for more information about Rambam’s new coronavirus "Crown" Department"
The "Crown" Department was initially set up over the weekend of March 1, 2020. Enjoy this video with more information about it.