Gateway takes first patients

New hospital open for business

By BRYAN CORBIN

Courier & Press staff writer

(812) 464-7449 or corbinb@courierpress.com

January 17, 2006

Enjoying her accommodations Monday during her three-day stay in the Heart Hospital was Lorene Koberstein of Princeton, Ind. She was undergoing treatment for atrial fibrillation, which produces irregular heartbeat and shortness of breath.

"The rooms are very nice and the nurses have been very good from the time that we walked in the front door. They're very cordial, meeting every need that we wanted," Koberstein said.

Kept company by her husband, Emory, and sister, Carroll Knight, Lorene Koberstein was able to move freely about her room, untethered by cables. A wireless heart monitor attached to her chest broadcast her heart rhythm to a nearby screen. "It seems to be the latest technology, I would say." In the weeks before Deaconess Gateway opened, the staff conducted mock drills, with employees posing as patients. The idea was to test the training, logistics and layout to discern how well the different elements worked together.