By Victoria Hurley-Schubert, Staff Writer
The staging area by the operating rooms was buzzing with activity as hospital staff unwrapped, wiped down and sanitized equipment being moved over from the old hospital in Princeton to the new University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro.
Staff received seven trucks of “hot truck” items throughout the morning and had more than half of it unpacked, cleaned and in place or ready to be put in place by 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 22. Everything was scheduled to be in place and ready to go in the nine operating rooms by 5 p.m.
Hot truck items were equipment that had to remain at the Witherspoon Street location until the last minute.
”If we had an emergency we had to make sure we could use them,” said Patricia Lum, a 38-year employee who was the interim manager overseeing the move of the operating rooms. “There was a lot of stuff.”
The biggest challenge for the staff was putting the equipment in the proper places and making sure none of the it was damaged during transport.
”To move an operating room is a huge challenge,” said Ms. Lum. “You have to make sure you keep operating rooms functional in the old place while we still have patients there and when we start transferring patients that we are able to take care of patients here. If patients are coming over in the ambulance and suddenly need surgery, we need to be able to take that patient.”
”We’re ready and we have been ready to receive patients,” she said, noting at as of 9 a.m. six of the operating rooms were functioning in the new hospital while two in the old were still available.
”We planned and planned and planned and planned,” said Ms. Lum. “This is the fruit of our planning. People are working as a team and everyone jumps in there and helps us and gets it wiped down and in its place.”
Despite the task at hand, Ms. Lum was all smiles.
”I’m excited,” she said. “It’s our new home. I’ve been at Princeton in the OR for 38 years. I’ve seen us move from the old operating room to the new operating room and now I’ve seen us move to a whole new facility, so it’s very exciting for me. I’m having a great time.”
”We have so much new technology, it’s what we live for in nursing,” she said. “Things that will help us do our jobs so much better and provide safe patient care.”

