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New unit designed for COVID-19 patients

A new unit within the University of Utah Hospital has been customized and designed specifically to treat COVID-19 patients.

On May 28, a new unit opened within the University of Utah Hospital that is customized and designed specifically to treat COVID-19 patients. Known as the B-50 COVID-19 Unit, this area is a collaboration among several teams at U of U Health who have worked tirelessly to create a one-of-a-kind space that allows for the proper treatment of COVID-19 patients, while preserving existing hospital capacity for other patient needs.

Speaking about the uniqueness of this space at a recent Management Council livestream, senior nursing director Colleen Connelly said, “We don’t have a unit like this. We don’t have a unit that combines acute care and ICU together and so we’ve learned a lot of things. It definitely takes a village and this has taken our entire organization to get this open.”

To watch Connelly’s presentation during this livestream, click here.

The unit has been established in Area B-50 of the Main Hospital, which previously housed the Surgical Specialty and Transplant Unit (SSTU). Because this is historically a high-traffic area of the hospital for faculty and staff, a video has been created that shows how staff should access the area and highlights the areas where the unit is no longer accessible. To watch the video, click here.

​For the opening of the unit, a series of videos have been created to showcase proper donning and doffing of PPE for faculty and staff.