Saint Luke’s East launches virtual nurse program

Saint Luke’s East, located in Lee's Summit, Mo., is the first in the Saint Luke’s Health System to introduce a new, virtual nurse technology.

The pilot program was launched in coordination with the opening of 24 new beds in February 2021 and will serve as a model if Saint Luke’s decides to expand the program to other hospitals within the health system.

Because of the infrastructure requirements, Saint Luke’s East Hospital CEO Bobby Olm-Shipman said the construction made it the perfect candidate to be the first to use the technology.

“Saint Luke’s East has a reputation for being pretty innovative and the team is very forward-thinking, so when we floated the idea, they really just jumped on it and said, ‘Yeah, we want to try this, we’d love to be the first to do it,’” said Olm-Shipman.

Here is how it works. The patient’s room is equipped with a camera and two monitors. One monitor displays the patient’s vital signs. The other displays a virtual nurse who is monitoring several patients from a command center within Saint Luke’s East. They can monitor oxygen levels and heart rates from afar and activate another nurse to respond to patients immediately when necessary.

“This means while your regular nurse is in the unit taking care of you, the virtual nurse provides another layer of nursing support that keeps an eye on the patient as well,” said Olm-Shipman.

Olm-Shipman said the virtual observation, which will be provided in addition to traditional nursing care, will increase the level of care provided to patients.

“Ultimately, what we’re hoping is this gives us the ability to provide even more efficient care because we’re identifying their needs more quickly by having that virtual nurse right there and being able to see what’s really going on, but also we’re hoping it makes our patients feel like they’re connected more closely to our care team.”

New programs are also in the works. Saint Luke’s East is preparing to introduce a neurosurgical spine program, which will allow it to offer minimally-invasive spine surgeries. According to Olm-Shipman, patients had previously been referred to Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City for this type of surgery. He said the change will allow for a more comprehensive approach among care providers and keeps patients closer to home.

“Whenever you get care, whether it’s elective or not, it’s disruptive to your life. You’re traveling, you’re taking a day off work. Maybe a spouse or a partner or someone in your social circle needs to be there with you,” said Olm-Shipman. “The closer you can keep people to home, the less disruptive it is to patients’ lives and their families and support systems.”

The hospital plans to have five or six neurosurgeons and one physiatrist in the neurosurgical spine clinic, which is expected to open in March or April. Procedures will begin soon after.

The hospital is also partnering with the Saint Luke’s Hospital to add a vascular services program. Olm-Shipman said the vascular program will have a dedicated surgeon and is set to begin offering services in the fall or winter of 2021.

In addition to a surgeon, the hospital is upgrading one of its operating rooms to a hybrid model. The hybrid will have robotic technology that allows the surgeon to begin with minimally-invasive vascular procedures. In the event it becomes necessary for the surgeon to conduct a more intrusive procedure, the robotic equipment can be moved and the surgeon can manually conduct the remainder of the surgery

In the coming months, Saint Luke’s East will continue construction on its new unit. In addition to the 24 beds that opened earlier this month, it plans to add six new beds by the summer. The project is budgeted for $26.8 million.

McCownGordon Construction is the general contractor for the 26,590-SF addition to the hospital, joined by project partners ACI Boland and IMEG Corp.

MMC Corp's Jones on the rise to inspire women in AEC

As vice president of marketing for MMC Corp, a construction services company with offices nationwide, Erica Jones oversees the planning and execution of rebranding, brand identity, training, communications and design initiatives for eight subsidiaries spanning more than ten offices from coast to coast.

Since joining the MMC Corp team nearly eleven years ago, Jones has held various roles, and her promotion to VP of Marketing in 2014 made her the youngest person on MMC Corp’s Officers’ Committee, a leadership team made up of the company's corporate executive team as well as subsidiary presidents.

Jones has utilized her communications and strategic thinking skills to showcase her value and be recognized as not only a leader but an asset in a male-dominated industry. This passion for building credibility among females in this industry has transferred over to her predominantly female marketing team as she has prioritized familiarizing them with the industry, acclimating them with challenges the people in the field experience every day and understanding the services they market. Through building meaningful relationships and truly taking the time to learn, her team crafts brand messages and marketing materials that feel authentic to who MMC Corp is at the core.

“When I joined the construction industry, I absolutely fell in love with it,” said Jones. “I think we are all better as an industry when we have diversity of thought at the leadership table, on project teams and in the office, so I have made it my personal charge to encourage more women to choose the A/E/C industry and to find ways to empower them once they’re here.”

Women make up about 10 percent of the construction industry and 57 percent of the workforce in America. Although the industry remains male-dominated, it’s working towards improvement, and some of the ways to create a more inclusive industry are to recruit more females for industry jobs and educate women on the opportunities for them in this field.

Erica encourages the women at her organization, both in the field and the office, to involve themselves in industry-related organizations. She has led the charge in promoting MMC Corp’s involvement in the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) where multiple employees now hold board positions, and heavily promotes Women in Construction Week (WIC Week) internally and externally to honor females in construction and inform others about the vast opportunities and potential of a career path in construction.

"Our Talent and Development team has specific goals and objectives to promote, attract, retain and educate more females about our company and industry," said Craig Woodson, chief people officer at MMC Corp.

"We have to continue to expose this industry to young women earlier in their schooling, and as we continue to do so, I'm confident we'll see more women in construction and key leadership roles, diversifying our industry for the better,” Woodson said.

Five years ago, Jones advocated for creating a Women’s Professional Network (WPN) at MMC Corp. This program offers mentorship, education, camaraderie and professional development through trainings, guest speakers, and communication.

From this new initiative and a more focused recruiting and development program led by the company’s Talent and Development team, the company has seen a significant increase in females hired and promoted in professional positions. It also provides learning opportunities for activities that are traditionally more male-dominated, such as golf and shooting lessons, so that the women can feel more comfortable in industry events that involve these types of activities.

“Women in supporting or office-based roles in construction typically don’t frequent the jobsites, but WPN has made it a priority to make sure we have the opportunity to get our boots on the ground and learn about what our project teams do in the field, which has been an invaluable experience,” said Natalya Steinke, estimator at MW Builders.

“Other WPN events have also allowed us to get to know the women who are in the field better and learn from each other about our respective roles,” Steinke said.

Since the inception of the WPN, the organization has seen a large increase in its gender diversity across all of its subsidiaries. This year, Jones will be expanding the WPN through a committee made up of employees from across the entire organization and will work closely with MMC Corp’s talent team to ensure its goals align with the organization’s diversity goals.

In 2020, Jones drove the creation of On the Rise, a women’s leadership summit for female rising stars and leaders in the built environment. She successfully garnered support from leading companies in Kansas City – JE Dunn, BRR, McCownGordon, PCI, KCADC, Henderson Engineers and Lockton – to partner with her on the half-day summit that included two panels aimed at helping women elevate themselves, roundtable discussions and a keynote from Sally Helgeson, the author of “How Women Rise.”

Between the females from the partner companies that attended and general admission tickets sold, 150 females in the built environment from Kanas City participated in this event, and many said that it was the most inspiring event like this they’d ever been to.