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By Jeanna Hofmeister
Imagine having
your morning cup
of coffee just two hours before
major surgery. Envision waking up
in recovery and then enjoying a full
meal only a few hours later. Picture
your postoperative pain being well-
managed with over-the-counter
remedies. Better yet, see yourself
going home healthier in one-third
of the time you expected. If that
scenario sounds radically different
than what you anticipated or have
previously experienced, it is. This is
the new Enhanced Recovery
Program at Kootenai Health.
G E T T I N G S T A R T E D
“The Enhanced Recovery Program
is a revolutionary paradigm shift in
the care of surgical patients,” said
Kootenai Health surgeon Marcus
Torgenson, M.D. “Moving to this
kind of protocol means patients get
better care, shorter hospital stays
and overall, recover better with less
pain.”
The movement toward this new
kind of pre- and post-surgical
protocol began in Europe but is
rapidly gaining traction across the
United States. Dr. Torgenson was
charged with leading the effort to
implement enhanced recovery at
Kootenai Health.
Last September, he and his team
met with peers at Mayo Clinic to
learn more about the program’s
protocols and benefits.
“It’s a brand-new concept for
health care,” he said. And it’s just
one of many benefits made pos-
sible through Kootenai Health’s
affiliation with Mayo Clinic. “Our
level of care has increased signifi-
cantly through our partnership. It is
such a great resource to be a part
of the Mayo Clinic Care Network.
Without them, we wouldn’t have
been able to do this as efficiently.”
T H E B E S T I N T H E I R C L A S S
A few weeks later, Dr. Torgenson
dove deeper into the enhanced
recovery concept with peers from
Duke, Cleveland Clinic and the
MD Anderson Cancer Center at
the American College of Surgeons
Clinical Congress.
In early October, after research
and fact-finding, he presented the
Enhanced Recovery Program model
to the various groups of health care
providers within Kootenai Health.
He says support for the change was
overwhelming. By mid-October, his
department began to implement
the new protocol with patients.
“When you’re introducing,
basically a new pathway, there are
usually providers who are skeptical
or hesitant to change their prac-
tice, but that simply was not an
issue for us.” While Dr. Torgenson
led the charge to put the plan into
action, he said it’s been a real
team effort. “The enthusiasm for
a change like this, from the entire
Kootenai Health staff, makes me
really proud of where I work.”
H O W T H E E N H A N C E D
R E C O V E R Y P R O G R A M
W O R K S
Some have likened the change in
protocol to training for a marathon.
Instead of starvation and dehy-
dration prior to their procedure,
patients are encouraged to quit
smoking, exercise more, hydrate
well and load up on nutritious
carbs. Post-op, with the help of
hospital staff, they are up and
moving on day one. They’re also
E N H A N C E D R E C O V E R Y P R O G R A M
The Recovery Revolution
HasArrived
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