Infusion Clinic Updated for Improved Patient Experience, Clinical Trials
BY KACEY FINCH
The team at the UF Health Shands Infusion Center, located at the Davis Cancer Pavilion, unveiled their expanded and renovated adult infusion clinic in September. They added 14 more chairs, for a total of 50, to accommodate our growing patient population.
“The infusion clinic has grown tremendously over the last several years and we had reached capacity for space and infusion chairs,” said Michele Scavone-Stone, M.Ed., UF Health Shands Infusion Center ambulatory care unit manager. “The renovations opened up the center so that we can serve more patients in a timelier and more flexible manner.”
Besides needing more room for patients, the renovations were necessary to enhance the patient experience and safety, Stone said.
The renovated infusion space now has walls between infusion chairs, allowing for a more private experience while still allowing the nursing staff an easy view of patients. The space also received a fresh color scheme, and each infusion chair has outlets and USB ports.
“Receiving an infusion can last any length of time so we want it to be as comfortable as possible for the patient,” Scavone-Stone said.
The renovated space now fosters multidisciplinary care for clinical trial participants with a new Phase 1 clinical trials component. An adjacent clinical trials laboratory includes a clinical research-dedicated -80°C lab freezer, a refrigerated centrifuge and cabinetry that will be used for blood sample processing.
The renovation and Phase 1 space demonstrate UF Health’s long-term commitment to early investigator trials, said David DeRemer, Pharm.D., a UF College of Pharmacy clinical assistant professor and assistant director of the UF Health Cancer Center Experimental Therapeutics Incubator Program.
“We have recently added trials from the NCI Experimental Therapeutics Clinical Trials Network into our portfolio,” DeRemer said. “We are excited about observing direct patient benefits from these trials for our patients in the state and region.”