The recently opened Orthopaedics & Spine Pavilion at Emory Saint Joseph's Hospital provides an innovative patient and family-centered care experience, and was designed with input from hospital staff, physicians and former patients and their family members, known as patient and family advisors (PFAs).

"We wanted to make sure the patient gets the best possible experience from the time they walk in the door until they leave," says Paul Jeffords, MD, chief of orthopaedic surgery at Emory Saint Joseph's.

According to Jeffords, another important component of the experience at the Orthopaedics & Spine Pavilion is taking care of a patient's family. "The family is an integral part of a patient's recovery, and we try to ease their anxiety," he says.

This includes keeping families informed during each phase of surgical care with a specialized tracking board in the waiting area. Families are able to follow the progress of their patient from surgery through recovery, in one location.

With the consolidation of all orthopaedics and spine services in one location on Emory Saint Joseph's campus, the facility also includes six state-of-the-art operating suites complete with teleconferencing capabilities.

Inpatient and outpatient procedures at the 20,000-square-foot facility include general orthopaedics, joint replacement, spine, elbow and shoulder, knee and hip, and foot and ankle. The multidisciplinary team at the Orthopaedics & Spine Pavilion is composed of orthopaedic and spine doctors, nurses and physical therapists, who care for patients going home the same day of surgery, and also those requiring a longer hospital stay.

Emory Saint Joseph's is recognized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as one of the top 25 hospitals in the nation for joint replacement procedures.