Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending - Construction - St. Joseph Hospital’s (SJH) is an acute care community hospital that serves the third most populated city in Maine and greater Penobscot County where 19.1% of the population is aged 65 and older. SJH serves many of the most vulnerable members of the greater Bangor area community, including older adults, low-income patients, individuals with chronic diseases, complex behavioral health and substance abuse needs requiring inpatient stays. In 2020, the average age of admitted patients at SJH was 67 years old. With almost 20% of the tax base in Penobscot County over age 65, SJH’s investment in building an Age-Friendly Health System will directly benefit older adults and their families now and in the future. Older adults are disproportionally affected by chronic conditions, such as diabetes, arthritis, and heart disease. Eighty percent have at least one chronic condition, and nearly 70 percent of Medicare beneficiaries have two or more. Older adults are hospitalized for fall-related injuries five times more often than for injuries from other causes, and falls cost our nation $50 billion each year. Nearly 6 million older adults are living with Alzheimer’s Disease; dementia, delirium, and confusion are common on our hospital floors, and makes these patients prone to injuries. St. Joseph Hospital’s long-term goal is to develop a state-of-the-art Age-Friendly Health System to better support the needs of older adults and their caregivers. Such a system involves each and every member of its workforce attending to what matters to the older adult, causing no harm, and and following evidence-based practices. In the first phase of the project, SJH plans to increase the size and function of 21 Surgical/Orthopedic inpatient rooms at SJH as part of a long-term plan to renovate all 78 inpatient rooms of the 74-year-old hospital. The CDS funds will initiate these renovations on the 4th and 6th floors by providing start-up monies to create a sound, age-friendly renovation plan. These funds will allow us to plan and implement the age-friendly renovations starting with acoustical ceilings to reduce extraneous noises, non-slip and non-glare flooring, improved lighting and increasing the height of toilets to appropriate levels to reduce falls. SJH will purchase and install patient lifts to accommodate the needs of our patient population and decrease healthcare workers’ burden. These CDS funds will support the care needs of approximately 1,000 inpatients each year that utilize the services of our inpatient rooms at SJH. Renovations and upgrades will increase patient safety, provide a comfortable environment for care, improve patient satisfaction, and reduce healthcare costs (e.g., lower rate of falls and diminished length of stay). Longer-term planning (not included in this CDS allocation) includes increasing the size and function of the inpatient rooms (surgical care / orthopedic care [4th floor], critical care and cardiac progressive care [5th floor] and medical units [6th floor]), and improving space to allow for better wheelchair mobility and accessibility. Additionally, four hospice/end-of-life comfort suites will be designed to support a peaceful, home-like environment, offering a comfortable living room with provisions for grieving families, and space for caregivers to rest. Future improvements to support an Age-Friendly environment will include adding signs and clock faces with larger print, purchasing warming blankets to support older patients with arthritis and other ailments and improve overall comfort. The renovations at SJH will have significant economic value to the Bangor community, creating dozens of jobs for a variety of contractors, including carpenters, electricians, plumbers, architects, engineers, painters, and more, helping to stimulate the local economy.
