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Baptist's Sleep Center is now in less clinical digs
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Published: July 17, 2010
On Tuesday night, Michelle Seidl, a stay-at-home mom, spent a rare night away from her husband and six children, ages 5 to 17. It wasn't a mini-vacation, though; Seidl was taking part in the sleep program at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
And, unlike patients in years past, she didn't have to go to the hospital for the study.
The hospital's Sleep Center moved to the Hawthorne Inn back in October, setting up eight rooms where patients check in for overnight sleep studies.
"It's relaxing, it's calm, quiet and easy to adjust to," Seidl said.
She learned about three months ago that she has sleep apnea, a condition in which a person stops breathing at intervals during the night. She has gone through two nights at the Sleep Center as technicians analyze her condition and determine her course of treatment.
"This is my first time having a sleep study done," Seidl said. "They kept an eye on me very well, they did a very good job."
And she also got to watch a little TV before they hooked her up to the equipment, and had a complimentary breakfast at the hotel the next morning.
In the evening, generally around 8 or 9, sleep technicians attach the needed sensors and monitors to the patient. And the next morning around 6, the technicians return to remove the sensors, allowing the patients to either get up or sleep in a little longer.
Patients have been responding well to the new location, said Dr. W. Vaughn McCall, the medical director of the Sleep Center.
Tom Hauser has been a patient at the Sleep Center for 13 years, dealing with progressive sleep apnea that has resulted in 11 overnight stays for testing. His first 10 were done at the hospital, and the 11th, back in May, was his first time at the Hawthorne Inn.
"It's quieter, more of a homey-type setting," Hauser said. "The amenities are there if you need to use them, you get your own bathroom, and it's quieter. That's the biggest thing."
In Hauser's case, since he works a night shift -- as a registered nurse at Forsyth Medical Center -- he had to attend the Sleep Center during the daytime hours. The sounds of visitors, elevators and one time even construction work kept him from being able to get to sleep.
Hauser says he has recommended the new Sleep Center to "two or three dozen people."
McCall said that the move out of the hospital was part of "the general trend at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center over the past five years to improve our patient friendliness for all services by moving those that don't need to be at the hospital elsewhere."
"We thought patients would be happier if they didn't have to park in the parking deck and wander in in the middle of the night," he said.
"Just from the standpoint of allaying patient anxieties about not getting lost, it was a good time to move out of the hospital."
The Hawthorne Inn had the capacity to take them in. And there are benefits to the hotel setting, McCall said.
"When someone comes to our sleep lab, they're not only a patient but also a guest at the hotel,'' McCall said. "They can use all the amenities of the hotel, the pool, the weight room, they can check in in late afternoon, and the next morning they can get the breakfast buffet."
And, he said, the patients don't pay any more than they would have at the hospital.
"It's charged as would be any routine sleep-lab service, and we take part of the receipt and pay the hotel for the space we've used," McCall said. "There's no additional charge to the patient or the insurance company."
The program has eight rooms, each with one bed that can be used six nights a week.
"Historically, we have 1,800 studies per year," McCall said. "We're relatively busy, but I think we could improve our volume."
About 95 percent of the cases that the Sleep Center sees involve sleep apnea. There's also the occasional narcolepsy, sleepwalking or other sleep-related behavior, McCall said.
tclodfelter@wsjournal.com
727-7371
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