The Future of St. Clair Health Is Bright with High Tech and High Quality Care

By Andrew Wilson

Innovation and technology have changed the science of medicine in amazing ways over the past 20 years, but the art of medicine – the care and compassion provided to each patient – is a goal that remains unchanged.

Few can fully appreciate both the unchanging art and rapidly changing science like a healthcare professional who has worked in both eras. Diane L. Puccetti, RN, BSN, MS, Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at St. Clair Health, began her career in nursing at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh before moving to St. Clair Health in 2004.

“I came to St. Clair as the operating room (OR) manager and, at first, we weren’t that busy, but the goal was to make it busy,” she said, recalling that in the early days of her tenure there were 12 operating rooms that were usually done with all surgeries for the day by early afternoon. That soon changed.

“Between 2004 and 2010, the volume had risen enough to expand by three operating rooms, and new technology also was being added, so we needed to make sure we had the right equipment and the right size operating room for all the new procedures we were doing,” she said.

Soon St. Clair’s operating rooms were being utilized until 5 p.m. or later, a reflection of both the confidence surgeons had in the staff as well as the facility and technology being added.

“This of course led to more staff being hired, more procedures being done, and again, a lot of work around new percutaneous interventional procedures, vascular procedures, where we were seeing things done with much smaller incisions, a lot of laparoscopic procedures,” said Puccetti. “Robotic surgery has only continued to grow. We now have two robots and do a lot of different specialties via the robotic platform.”

At present, St. Clair Health has 13 operating rooms and a cystoscopy procedure room in the main hospital, as well as eight operating rooms in the Dunlap Family Outpatient Center.

“We’re about to open two more operating rooms in Dunlap and five endoscopy suites,” Puccetti said. “It’s probably one of the best clinical flows and overall patient experiences that you could ask for. Beautiful windows, beautiful light, large state of the art operating rooms and recovery spaces. There’s also a Walgreen’s pharmacy, and a separate exit so patients who are going home do not have to exit through the main lobby.”

Even with new technology and facilities, the main goal of care at St. Clair Health remains providing the best care for patients and their families.

“When I first got here, what was most impressive to me was the belief in what they wanted to do here,” she said. “The direction was not just to grow, but to be top decile in so many things. That can put a lot of pressure on management, but the support of the senior team was apparent from the onset.”

The pressure and stress on management is not simply to set and attain high standards but to maintain those standards once they have been achieved. The effort doesn’t stop once the goal has been met.

“When I became the director of nursing, our quality indicator metrics were excellent. Our patient experience was excellent,” Puccetti said. “But I think the main secret sauce of that was just the dedication and tenure of our employees. They not only bought into the system; they lived it.”

This isn’t just staff’s perception either. Puccetti says they hear it when they are away from work, too, whether at a baseball game or in the grocery store.

“People in the community will tell us they had a great experience in the ED or in surgery,” she said. “This is where we bring our family. We have engagement in the process and the type of pride that brings to staff is just second to none. I think that carries with it just some institutional pride like I've never seen.”

The advances at St. Clair Health are not limited to technology or equipment. St. Clair Health is becoming a teaching hospital, meaning that medical residents and nurses will have the opportunity to learn as they care for people.

We're really looking forward to launching our graduate medical education programs this summer,” Puccetti said. “That's really exciting for us, especially for recruiting new nurses. People will say, ‘I wanted to be in a teaching hospital.’ We have that right here, and it is not just for residents but for nurses to have the opportunity and ability to learn with the residents.”

Puccetti said being a teaching hospital involves enhancing educational experiences that formerly may only have been utilized in academic institutions or large teaching hospitals. St. Clair will be adding additional simulation equipment like high-tech mannequins that can mimic patient breathing or pulse rates and respond accordingly when certain care is provided.

“There will be a lot of multidisciplinary training with those residents and with our physicians, and we want nursing to be right there on the forefront of that, too,” she said. “This is a tough time in healthcare and really our focus is getting back to all those processes that made us successful. We have some challenges around that everyone does, but I think the commitments are there. I think we understand what the community wants and what they need, and they're very, very upfront, whether it be focus groups or patients you talk to about the experience they had, they want that convenience, they want that quality. They want to be close to home. They want to be able to walk from the parking lot and get that quality care here.

Diane L. Puccetti, RN, BSN, MS, is Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at St. Clair Health. St. Clair Hospital is a highly honored, independent, 329 bed acute-care medical center that provides advanced, high quality health care to the residents of southwestern Pennsylvania. A member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, St. Clair has 600 physicians and 2,500 employees. St. Clair Hospital is the largest employer in Pittsburgh’s South Hills. To find a location near you, please visit: stclair.org/st-clair-info/visit/find-a-location/