Providence deploys new Patient Logistics Center during pandemic
Portland Business Journal
With COVID patient surges continuing rather than abating, Providence Health teamed up with GE HealthCare to create a central Patient Logistics Center to coordinate admissions, discharges and transfers among the system’s eight Oregon hospitals and 1,000 beds.
Before the Logistics Center opened, each hospital handled their patient flow independently of the others. If transfers were required, communication lags often meant the situation had changed before the transfer was completed. The new system closes those gaps by enabling real-time oversight of patient flow and acuity, bed management and telesitters across facilities.
“Knowing exactly what we have happening at each of our ministries (hospitals) at any moment, allows us to make decisions faster and to know what we’re dealing with and if asked for transfer, to know this is the resource we have,” shared Jennifer Gentry, chief nursing officer for the Oregon region. “There’s a lot of data through the GE system we have now we couldn’t get before.”
When we pull everything together, we have more efficiencies.”
- Dr. David Corman, Patient Logistics Center Medical Director, Providence Health