Kate Becker | https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-becker-b9347a8/
The University of New Mexico Hospital has opened its new Critical Care Tower (CCT), marking a significant expansion in the hospital’s capacity and resources. The CCT, which began accepting patients on October 5, includes an expanded Adult Emergency Department with 68 additional beds, increasing the total number of intensive care beds throughout the facility to 96. The project also adds a second helipad, a new surgical suite with 18 operating rooms, and updated medical technology.
First proposed in 2015, the Critical Care Tower aims to enhance health care services for New Mexicans. At the opening event on September 26, UNM Hospital CEO Kate Becker addressed the team responsible for completing the project, saying, “It’s been incredible to see all the pieces of the CCT come to life — from the installation of high-tech medical equipment to the hanging of beautiful art pieces that now brighten up the walls. So many of you have worked incredibly hard to prepare the CCT for each other and for patients and their families. The opening of the Critical Care Tower is possible because of your commitment to improving health care services for all.”
As the largest teaching hospital in New Mexico, UNM Hospital has dedicated the fourth floor of the tower—called The Sky Campus—to staff training and meetings. This area is not accessible to patients or visitors and provides spaces such as eating lounges, 22 private rooms for resident physicians, thousands of lockers for staff use, and several meeting rooms.
UNM President Garnett S. Stokes described the facility as an example of the institution’s ongoing commitment to both health care and education: “This is a special place, the embodiment of the kind of health care providers and educators we are — as well as the kind we still aspire to be. It is also a welcoming place, providing convenient and more supportive access to health care, while also making visitors and our Lobo health care providers feel more at ease — and, hopefully, more at home.”
Starting at 5 a.m. on October 5, all adult emergency care is being directed to the new CCT Emergency Department and intensive care units, with current patients transferred from older parts of UNM Hospital.
The Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce congratulated UNM and its staff for advancing the Critical Care Tower project as part of broader efforts to improve health care in New Mexico.
