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Ambulatory Treatment Center (ATC) continues to expand services that
offer comprehensive care to patients in more efficient outpatient
settings.
 During
the first six months of fiscal year 1998-99, a nine percent increase
in patient visits was recorded in the ATC’s Emergency Center
while a 14 percent hike in visits was seen in the combined Bed,
Chair and Greenpark units.
“We
have opened a separate eight-room Transfusion Unit to accommodate
the growing demand for services, and we also have extended hours
for the Bed Unit and Greenpark,” notes Cecil Brewer, administrative
director for the Ambulatory Treatment Center.
The
23-bed Emergency Center, which never closes, handles the sickest
patients. About one-third of them require hospital admission but
others can be treated and monitored up to 24 hours without being
admitted.
The
25-room Bed Unit recently began staying open around the clock to
provide care for patients up to 10 hours at a time. The 25-bed Chair
Unit is dedicated to short-term services that can be completed in
two hours or less; it is especially popular for patients who want
their portable chemotherapy pumps changed before or after work or
school.
The
18-room Greenpark Unit — located about a mile from the main
M. D. Anderson complex — is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday
through Friday. Patients can receive up to eight hours of care.
One
of the nicest new additions for ATC staff and patients is a gala
celebration for each bone marrow transplant patient reaching 100
days post-transplant.
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