WARREN, Ohio (WKBN)- A ceremonial ribbon cutting marked the reopening of the 8th floor of Trumbull Regional Medical Center Thursday, better known as the Center for Joint Replacement. It was closed during the pandemic due to the restriction on elective surgeries and staffing issues.
“Now that we have the right level of staffing for the patients that we have now, it really allows our nurses to be able to give that direct focused attention to every single patient,” said Cindy Russo, president of Trumbull Regional Medical Center.
Reopening the floor allows patients to have private rooms.
The floor has been open for a few weeks, but hospital staff, city leaders and members of the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber got together to celebrate Thursday while showing off the hospital’s newest equipment — Tablo dialysis machines from Outset Medical.
They are more like the Tesla of the dialysis machines,” said Dr. Kapil Kwatra.
Nurse Bill Romigh describes it as the size of a mini refrigerator that is very easy to transport.
“For certain patients, if they’re isolated or if they’re in critical care, we actually have to travel to those areas to provide the service,” Romigh said.
The new equipment has already been used twice on one patient.
“His kidney numbers went down from like 97 to 67. That’s almost a 30% drop, and he was feeling well,” Kwatra said.
The hospital used to rely on a third-party vendor for dialysis, but with the purchase of five Tablo machines, it will now run the program from within.
“To have those resources in-house and not have to rely on an outside vendor, I think, will be advantageous to us moving forward. The resources are here, in-house immediately available in case somebody needs them,” said Dr. Gray Goncz, chief medical officer for Trumbull Regional Medical Center.
