Palmetto Health opens new surgical trauma unit

Palmetto Health has opened its new Raymond P.H. Bynoe, M.D. Surgical Trauma Unit. The new unit, named after prominent trauma surgeon Raymond P.H. Bynoe, M.D., who led the Trauma Team at Palmetto Health Richland for nearly 20 years, will continue the hospital's legacy of caring for the most severely injured patients in the Midlands and 16-county surrounding area.

From 2016-17, the Trauma Center, the only Level I Trauma Center in the Midlands, cared for more than 3,600 trauma patients. The center also has the American College of Surgeons (ACS)-verified Level I Trauma Center designation, the highest ranking status a hospital can achieve. Trauma team services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and include a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary team.

The new STICU at Palmetto Health Richland's Trauma Center was funded with the help of community donors through Palmetto Health Foundation. The center will be the most technologically advanced ICU in South Carolina. The new private room, 18-bed STICU will have several features designed to promote the healing of its patients. Those features include:

- Special tunable lighting to help stabilize the circadian rhythm of patients who suffer from delirium during long-term hospitalization. Palmetto Health is one of only two ICUs in the nation to have this technology. This technology will be unique here at Palmetto Health because it also will be in work areas to help staff be more alert and efficient.

- Modular boom columns are located in every patient room that hold wires, tubes, gas, air and suction. This allows the room space to be used more efficiently and allows patient beds to be moved to adjust for clinical conditions.

- Infection-control design elements will be another important feature in the new unit that will minimize bacteria, including a special light that kills bacteria and floors designed to prevent bacterial growth.

- Nurses will be positioned in front of every two patient rooms to allow direct visualization of patients and monitors.

- The unit will house some of the newest critical care equipment, including the latest in technology for ventilators as well as metabolic carts, bronchoscopy scopes, travel monitors and supply pyxis machines in every room.

- Family will have access to a desk area with charging station in every room, a clinical recliner chair that can also be used for the patient, as well as a bathroom on the unit and a fully equipped lobby with consultation room.

- The health care team will have access to an open and collaborative workspace with eight workstations as well as a private conference room with multimedia.

- The unit is equipped with a simulation room complete with multimedia and a simulation mannequin for staff to train on complex procedures and keep up with changes in clinical standards.

Palmetto Health Richland has an interdisciplinary team composed of trauma and specialty surgeons, emergency medicine and other specialty physicians, nurses, therapists, social workers and other health care professionals to provide total care for every aspect of injury, from prevention through rehabilitation. Mark Jones, M.D., trauma medical director and trauma surgeon, thinks the new unit helps this dedicated team of professionals.

Jones said, "Being a Level I trauma center for this region requires a deep commitment. Each year, Palmetto Health invests many resources to ensure patients receive the best possible trauma and emergency care. Being able to have this new unit to work in helps us improve because we will have access to newer technologies that address the latest in trauma care and promote healing. Our team works very hard to provide a high level of care that our community deserves."

The unit was named the Raymond P.H. Bynoe, M.D. Surgical Trauma Unit because of Bynoe dedicating his professional life to Palmetto Health Richland's Level I Trauma Center. Bynoe's tireless efforts, unwavering commitment and passion for helping others were instrumental to the Trauma Center's verification by the American College of Surgeons as a Level I in 2013. Board-certified in general surgery by the American Board of Surgery and a practicing physician with the University of South Carolina Department of Surgery and Palmetto Health Richland since 1979, Bynoe served as the trauma medical director at Palmetto Health Richland from 1996-2014. During his tenure, he collaborated with other leaders in the state to develop the South Carolina Trauma Care System and was a founding member of the South Carolina Trauma Advisory Council. He is known to countless patients, families, team members and the community as not only a caregiver, but also a teacher, mentor and friend.

Jay Hamm, Palmetto Health Richland chief operating officer, who was previously part of the Trauma Team as a registered nurse, is pleased that the unit is named after Bynoe. He says, "There is no one more deserving of this honor. We all have seen Dr. Bynoe give so much back to this community and to the patients and their families in this unit. The naming of the unit after him is a reminder to everyone who provides care there of his compassion and unwavering commitment to our patients and to the high standard that he has set for everyone."

In addition to providing care for patients, Trauma Services also offers a variety of programs to address injury prevention for people of all ages. Programs include:

- Project Ready - Program aims to educate youth about the consequences of their choices;

- Stop the Bleed - Program to train community members in bleeding control techniques to help in emergencies;

- ThinkFirst Adults - Program works to help older adults to recognize risk factors for and implement strategies to prevent falls; and

- ThinkFirst Teens - Program shows how to reduce risks of traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries.

For more information about the STICU or Trauma Services programs, visit PalmettoHealth.org. If you are interested in celebrating Bynoe's legacy and support the Trauma Team through a donation, call Palmetto Health Foundation at (803) 434-7275 or visit PalmettoHealthFoundation.org.